Although parliament’s joint committees approved the so-called Orthodox electoral proposal today, Speaker Nabih Berri gave them an extra week to study other draft laws, and it is unclear if the endorsed proposal has enough votes to become law.

In theory, the proposal should now go to the full parliament for an up or down vote. However, given Berri’s extension, the controversial law – which calls for Lebanese to vote for MPs only from their own sects in polls scheduled for June – may be just one of many proposals for the full legislature to discuss next week.

When the Orthodox law reaches parliament, a vote on it will create strange political bedfellows and its passage will be far from guaranteed. It will certainly fracture the March 14 coalition, and will even cause division within March 8. For example, March 14 stalwarts the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb have largely voiced public support for the law – meaning they would buck the Future Movement and March 14 independents to side with the Free Patriotic Movement, Amal and Hezbollah, among others. [Full Article]