BEIRUT: A parliamentary sub-committee was set up Thursday to overcome the obstacles and differences between rival politicians over the electoral law to be used in the upcoming polls.

The sub-committee – headed by deputy Parliament Speaker Farid Makari – was made up of March 14 MPs Ahmad Fatfat, Sami Gemayel, Serge Torsarkissian and George Adwan and March 8 MPs Alain Aoun, Ali Fayyad, Ali Bazzi and Hagop Pakradounian. Progressive Socialist Party MP Akram Shehayeb was also named to the committee.

The committee was given three weeks to finalize a common formula to the election law which will be adopted in the 2013 parliamentary election.

Its main task is to remove the obstacles to the elections law – whether to a adopt a majority or proportional representation system as well as the size the electoral districts.

Meanwhile, the Joint Parliamentary Committees resumed debate Thursday on the issue of expat voting for the upcoming polls.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, who attended the session, said so far only 3,009 expatriates have registered to vote.

MP Butros Harb has said that the March 8 coalition opposes the expatriates’ right to vote as Hezbollah cannot campaign in countries where the Shiite group is considered a terrorist organization.