An-Nahar newspaper published on Tuesday the draft of the new municipal electoral law, which included Interior Minister Ziad Baroud’s suggested amendments.

Baroud said that significant amendments need to be made to the municipal law, and categorized them as follows:

- Electing the municipality head and his/her deputy by the people
- Adopting proportional representation in major cities to ensure fair representation
- Including the women’s quota in 30% of the municipal seats
- Adopting the system of pre-printed ballot papers

The daily also reported that the draft law reduces the tenure of municipality councils to five years instead of six, adopts proportional representation and uses closed lists – in which voters choose between lists of candidates and not candidates themselves – for municipalities that include more than 21 members.

The draft law also states that the voting age is 21, and the minimum age required for running in the municipal elections is 25, added the daily.

Any person running for the posts of the head of the municipality and his deputy must have a degree from a recognized university, while those running for mayor must have a baccalaureate or its equivalent, reported An-Nahar.

-NOW Lebanon 

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