Why protesters want Lebanon’s new government to pass a new electoral law

BEIRUT — Following newly minted Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s formation of a new government in Lebanon on Jan. 21 after over three months of street protests, demonstrators have roundly rejected the new Cabinet as insufficiently independent over the past several weeks, pointing out that it continues to be backed by several of the country’s traditional parties.

Amid declarations of “no confidence” in the Cabinet over the last several weeks, many demonstrators have reignited calls for early parliamentary elections, ideally under the auspices of a new, revised electoral law — a key demand of the movement since its inception last year. Demonstrators and groups seeking change have suggested several proposals for such a law since mid-January in hopes of looking beyond the Cabinet and instead striking at the fundamentals of Lebanon’s sect-based party system, which many feel has fueled decades of corruption.

The new Cabinet’s still-unfinalized draft ministerial statement says it intends to make preparations for new elections. But according to experts, creating an equitable election law that achieves the protesters’ goals will be difficult, if not impossible, as no single proposal on the table offers a cure-all solution. Such a law would necessarily have to come from the same parliament that protesters hope to overturn, and new political movements emerging from the protests would also have to overcome additional hurdles such as financing if they hope to pose a threat to Lebanon’s political class at the ballot box.

“This is the only way to have really independent people run for the parliament and actually win,” Jinane Aboumrad, a business owner who was present at a demonstration near Lebanon’s parliament Jan. 21, told Al-Monitor about early elections. “I think this time they will win.”