According to sources familiar with the meeting, members of the Majority Bloc, a coalition of opposition groups who dominated majority seats in the 2012 parliament, voiced different opinions with regard to the formation and working of the national Front for the Protection of the Constitution, as well as over the decision to boycott future elections if the Cabinet issued emergency decrees to change the electoral system; a step that can be taken if the Constitutional Court finds the current system unconstitutional.
“Some parties believe that the formation of the National Front must not affect the positions of the Majority Bloc and the Nahj group, which has so far been successful in gaining public support compared to other political groups”, the sources told Al-Rai on Sunday.
“On the other hand, there are parties who see that all opposition groups should be represented equally in the National Front”. The meeting also discussed the possibility of establishing a media center for the opposition that can be used to “reject blatant attacks against the Majority Bloc members” according to the sources.
They further said that the center will play a comprehensive role by providing material to the Press, TV stations, as well as be active on Twitter. Regarding the opposition group’s resignation from the 2009 Parliament, Majority Bloc member Adel Al-Damkhi said following the meeting that members were divided over forwarding written resignations “in order to make a statement”, or wait until the 2009 Parliament is dissolved.
(Rai) In other news, Al-Anbaa daily reported yesterday that the Cabinet was set to discuss during their weekly meeting “a recommendation to establish a public authority for elections with exclusive powers to hold and oversee parliamentary elections”.
The proposal was provided by a committee formed earlier by the Cabinet to draw up proposals for resolving issues in the current electoral system, such as the imbalance in the distribution of constituencies.
