BEIRUT: A delegation of Maronite politicians discussed Tuesday with the head of Hezbollah’s bloc MP Mohammad Raad the electoral law according to which the 2013 parliamentary elections will be held.

The delegation was tasked by the Maronite Church with engaging in dialogue with Hezbollah, and it launched talks with the party earlier this month.

Areas of focus include the structure of the state and the maintenance of Lebanon’s neutrality in the Middle East.The Maronite delegation includes MPs Boutros Harb, Alain Aoun, George Adwan and Sami Gemayel, as well as former Ministers Youssef Saade and Ziyad Baroud.

Lawmakers who took part in the meeting told reporters that talks focused on “concerns” brought up by the Maronite Church during previous meetings with Hezbollah.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai has said that the committee also seeks to highlight Lebanon’s message of coexistence in the Arab world.

Rai has urged the international community to pressure Israel to fulfill its obligations under U.N. resolutions, particularly those relating to the conflict between the Jewish state and Lebanon.

He has said that the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Lebanese territories would deny Hezbollah the pretext to maintain its weapons. Israel continues to occupy the Shebaa Farms region, which it claims belongs to Syria but which Lebanon maintains is Lebanese.

Hezbollah has said that its arms are the only means of defending Lebanon against Israeli aggression. It has also praised the tripartite formula of the “people, army and resistance” as the only viable defense strategy.

Since becoming patriarch last year, Rai has reached out to Hezbollah, charting a course different from that of his predecessor, former Patriarch Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, who criticized Hezbollah’s arms.