Comments Posted By Robert Mayer
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IN LEBANON, POLITICS MAKES STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
The interesting thing about proportional representation is that, if it's implemented, it would really benefit the Syrian allies given their losses in the single-mandate system so easily. Under proportional representation, all of those candidates that lost to the opposition would make some of them up to a degree.
I think the new law is going to simply make the districts smaller, so as to get a more exact representation. I think this could be both good and bad. I terms of the Christian population in the South, it would mean that they get to pick and vote on their own representative candidates, instead of having their Christian seats picked and voted on by mostly Shiites (Hizb'allah-Amal). On the other hand, the larger districts force something of a sectarian melting pot. Sure, in the South the Christian candidates moreso represent Hizb'allah, but in the upper regions the Shiite/Sunni candidates have to represent moreso the Christians. It's also what has forced a lot of these trade-offs of seats between the different groups in each region (Hizb'allah candidate on Hariri's list in Beirut, Bahia Hariri gets a Sunni seat on the Hizb'allah list in the south).
The possibility with the smaller districts is sectarian isolation, which isn't good, but the larger districts seems to piss people off just as much. It's a very confusing system, but in the end, the smaller districts look like the better plan.
Comment Posted By Robert Mayer On 13.06.2005 @ 08:47
