"There will be a municipal election for sure and our gathering at this conference is proof of that," said Berri, who was speaking at the release of the second municipal draft law authored by the Beirut Order of Engineers.

Before addressing the municipality issue, Berri said that some parties are striving to undermine the country's three top positions.

"There are some people in Lebanon who want to bring down the moral position and the symbolic meaning of the presidency ... the role of the legislative institution ... and the role of the Prime Minister," Berri said.

He accused some parties of driving the country to "institutional degradation" and of overthrowing the formula of the new Lebanon, the resistance and the role of sisterly countries.

Berri, who was clearly referring to Syria, said those people wanted to "get back at Syria particularly ... and at every Arab country that provided assistance to Lebanon."

Regarding the municipal election, Berri said that it would be held on time and that decentralization is mostly needed in the new municipal law to promote democracy and development.

"It is also necessary that the new law reduce administrative censorship on municipal activities, by allowing municipal decisions to be binding without referring to the executive authority," he said.

"Municipalities should be provided with the necessary funds to assume its responsibilities because competences without resources will not lead to any result," Berri said.

The municipal draft law is currently under discussion in Parliament's Administration and Justice Committee, which according to MPs in the committee would need some two additional months before being handed out for further discussions to other concerned committees.

However, many MPs, ministers, mayors, and municipality members are not satisfied with the current form of the draft law, saying that the committee did not modernize it as it was supposed to, but rather made minor amendements to the 1977 municipal law.

"We may not call the currently drafted municipal law a modern law, but ... merely an amendment of the old law," said Beirut MP Walid Eido.

The Beirut Order of Engineers produced last July a draft municipal law, which promotes democracy and more municipal autonomy.

"The draft municipal law we prepared is currently in the hands of the government, hoping that concerned parties would consider the recommendations and pass it in the new municipal law," said Beirut Order of Engineers' president Sobhi Bsat.

On Tuesday, the order released their second municipal draft law, which calls for the modernization and amendment of the municipal law.

In addition to the draft municipal law presented by the engineers' order, a second draft law was handed to the concerned committee by the government.

However, Parliament's Administration and Justice Committee did not take into consideration the suggested recommendations, particularly those concerning direct voting, and the education level of both mayors and deputy mayors.

Telecommunications Minister Jean-Louis Qordahi said, "I previously asked Akkar MP Mikhail Daher to consider the direct voting of mayors and deputy mayors from the public to guarantee municipal development through the promotion of democracy."

Qordahi's support for a "direct election of mayors and deputy mayors" was mentioned by several participants at the conference.

"I personally recommend a direct voting," said Baalbek-Hermel MP Ammar Musawi, adding that municipalities should be given their share of the Independent Municipalities Fund. Some municipal members at the conference complained that they have not received the funds earmarked for their municipality for several years.

However, Daher, who is the chairman of Parliament's Administration and Justice Committee, said although the committee received the government's draft law, which calls for direct voting of both mayors and deputy mayors, it nevertheless decided that both seats would be elected by municipality members.

Daher argued against direct voting for mayors and deputy-mayors on the grounds that a mayor who has the backing of the public might not necessarily receive the support of his municipal council, thus causing paralysis of governance.

"If a mayor is elected by the public and does not get along with the municipality members, that may cause the freezing of some activities," Daher said.

In addition to the issue of direct voting, participants in the conference raised the issue of mayors and deputy mayors' educational level. Although it was recommended by both drafts presented by the order of engineers and the government that mayors and deputy mayors in cities and big towns should have a degree, the committee did not take the recommendations into account.

Eido, who is a member of Parliament's Administration and Justice Committee, said that the committee amended a law stipulating municipalities' connection to the ministry through the internet.

"If mayors and deputy mayors are only asked to read and write, how can they be asked to use the internet?," said Eido.

Regarding the decentralization law Eido said, "We were supposed to be handed out a decentralization law along our study of the municipal law but none of this happened, which caused the delay of the committee's formulation of the municipal draft law."