PAPER OF COMMON UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN HIZBULLAH AND THE FREE PATRIOTIC MOVEMENT: 6FEBRUARY 2006

Dialogue

National dialogue is the only avenue to find solutions to Lebanon's crises on stable and firm bases that are a reflection of a unifying consensual will. The following conditions must be obtained to ensure its success:

• A The participation of parties that have a political, popular and national standing with a round table as the venue.

• B Transparency, openness, and placing the interests of the nation above any other interest, through the reliance on self-driven will and free and committed Lebanese decision-making.

• C Include all national issues that require general consensus.

Consensual Democracy

Consensual democracy remains the fundamental basis for governance in Lebanon because it is the effective embodiment of the spirit of the Constitution and of the essence of the pact of shared coexistence. From this standpoint, any approach for dealing with national issues according to a majority-minority formula depends on historic and social conditions for practicing effective democracy in which the citizen becomes an independent value.

The Electoral Law

The reform of political life in Lebanon requires the adoption of a modern electoral law – where proportional representation may be one of its effective means – that guarantees accurate and just popular representation and contributes to the accomplishment of the following objectives:

• 1 Activate and develop the role of political parties in achieving civil society.

• 2 Limit the influence of political money and sectarian fanaticism.

• 3 Make available equal opportunities for using the various means of the media.

• 4 Ensure the required means to enable the Lebanese expatriates to exercise their voting rights.

We ask the government and parliament to commit to the shortest possible deadline to enact the required electoral law.

Building the State

Building a modern state that has the trust of its citizens and is able to meet their needs and aspirations, and provide them with the sense of security and safety as to their present and future, requires that the state should be erected on strong and solid foundations that make it impervious to destabilization and periodic crises whenever it is faced by difficult challenges and changing circumstances.