The Lebanese Cabinet has approved a new draft election law. The law will be voted on by the parliament this week and changes the electoral system from one based around seats reserved for specific religious sects to proportional representation. There have not been elections in Lebanon since 2009 and this reform is being seen as a way of overcoming this deadlock. However, there has also been an agreement that even following this law’s passage there will be no elections until May 2018 at the earliest.