Since the early hours of the announcement of the parliamentary elections results, many questions have been raised over the Future Movement’s bloc, which has lost around 13 deputies.
However, Prime Minister Saad Hariri was quick to declare that despite this loss, his movement was able to overcome the effects of the new electoral law, which was not expected to give it more than 15 seats in the new parliament.
While some observers attributed the loss to a wrong policy adopted by the movement, Hariri announced his satisfaction, noting that his bloc now includes 21 deputies instead of 34, but pointing out at the same time that he was betting on a better result.
He explained that the current law has allowed the Future Movement to be “breached”, stressing that the bloc was strongly facing a plan to remove it from the political process.
The Future Movement’s vice-president, Former Minister Raya Al-Hassan and FM member Rashed Fayed, agree that the next stage would witness a general review of the current policy, stressing that the results of the elections were largely expected from the first moment of the adoption of the law, which was initially based on the interests of sectarian factions.
“Nothing prevents a rethinking of the general methodology and policy that has been adopted since the elections, by writing down everything that happened and reading objectively to find out the mistakes and avoid them in the later stage,” Fayed told Asharq Al-Awsat.
He noted that several reasons might have led to the failure to achieve better results in the elections, most notably, the structure of the electoral law, which seeks to prioritize sectarian considerations over national interests.
Hassan, for her part, said that in addition to the sectarian factor and the low voting turnout in the city, eight different lists competed with the Future Movement, contributing to the dispersion of the Sunni vote and reflecting negatively on the Movement.
“In my opinion, this underlines the need to reunify the ranks to face the challenges together,” she stated.
Electoral Expert Rabih Haber said that the results achieved by the Future Movement “cannot be considered a loss, but on the contrary, victory is achieved.”
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Haber said: “Hariri succeeded in reducing his loss significantly, after he knew from the first moment of the approval of the law he signed that he would not harvest more than 15 deputies, and he succeeded in forming one of the largest parliamentary blocs with 21 deputies.”
However, Prime Minister Saad Hariri was quick to declare that despite this loss, his movement was able to overcome the effects of the new electoral law, which was not expected to give it more than 15 seats in the new parliament.
While some observers attributed the loss to a wrong policy adopted by the movement, Hariri announced his satisfaction, noting that his bloc now includes 21 deputies instead of 34, but pointing out at the same time that he was betting on a better result.
He explained that the current law has allowed the Future Movement to be “breached”, stressing that the bloc was strongly facing a plan to remove it from the political process.
The Future Movement’s vice-president, Former Minister Raya Al-Hassan and FM member Rashed Fayed, agree that the next stage would witness a general review of the current policy, stressing that the results of the elections were largely expected from the first moment of the adoption of the law, which was initially based on the interests of sectarian factions.
“Nothing prevents a rethinking of the general methodology and policy that has been adopted since the elections, by writing down everything that happened and reading objectively to find out the mistakes and avoid them in the later stage,” Fayed told Asharq Al-Awsat.
He noted that several reasons might have led to the failure to achieve better results in the elections, most notably, the structure of the electoral law, which seeks to prioritize sectarian considerations over national interests.
Hassan, for her part, said that in addition to the sectarian factor and the low voting turnout in the city, eight different lists competed with the Future Movement, contributing to the dispersion of the Sunni vote and reflecting negatively on the Movement.
“In my opinion, this underlines the need to reunify the ranks to face the challenges together,” she stated.
Electoral Expert Rabih Haber said that the results achieved by the Future Movement “cannot be considered a loss, but on the contrary, victory is achieved.”
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Haber said: “Hariri succeeded in reducing his loss significantly, after he knew from the first moment of the approval of the law he signed that he would not harvest more than 15 deputies, and he succeeded in forming one of the largest parliamentary blocs with 21 deputies.”
This article has been adapted from its original source.
