Elie Hourani
Daily Star staff

Criticism of the government’s handling of the Metn by-election fiasco mounted Tuesday, just one day after Myrna Murr withdrew her candidacy to allow her uncle Gabriel Murr to begin his term in Parliament.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday before boarding a plane to Bulgaria on a private visit, Minister of State Beshara Merhej called for a new Electoral Law “whose text is clear.”
He said the events surrounding the Metn by-election had exposed inherent flaws in the current Electoral Law which “need to be addressed as soon as possible to avoid blunders in the next general elections.”
Merhej voiced his support for “compulsory” private voting in a reference to the actions of Myrna Murr supporters, who flagrantly refused to pull the curtains of their voting booths.
In a related development, the Maronite League, headed by Hareth Chehab, criticized the government’s performance during the vote.
“The developments that took place in association with the by-election have shown that public trust in the government has weakened,” the league complained in a statement.
The statement also accused the government of failing to live up to its responsibilities in maintaining law and order during and after the election.
The head of the Phalange Party’s Baabda branch, Pierre Baaqlini, lambasted both sides involved in the by-election dispute, calling for its cessation.
Baaqlini called on Lebanese in general, and Christians in particular, to abandon extremist attitudes, which he said will lead to the country’s destruction. He stressed that only “Christian moderation protects the Christian presence, just like Lebanese moderation protects the whole country.”
He also warned that any attempt to undermine this moderation would ultimately threaten the position of Christians, and further contended that sectarianism steers the country into the “unknown.”
Beirut MP Hagop Kassardjian called for closing the book on the Metn by-election, “with all its controversies and debates,” arguing that the results had been decided. In a statement, Kassardjian, an ally of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, called for solidarity in the country “in the face of important regional and international problems.”
The MP stressed that the country’s economic situation was “very delicate” and required a quiet political atmosphere.
In a related development, the National Coordination Committee, which includes the outlawed Lebanese Forces, the National Liberal Party and the Free Patriotic Movement, reminded authorities that the opposition had scored a victory against a state-backed candidate. In a statement, the committee asserted that the victory had unsettled many in the government.
“They (the authorities) pretended their candidate had won, but conceded defeat for political reasons,” the statement said.

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