After stalled efforts between political parties to find a new electoral law for Lebanon's looming parliamentary elections, President Michel Aoun is expected to raise the thorny file at the cabinet before the end of the month, An Nahar daily reported on Thursday.

The daily added that Aoun is set to propose staging the polls based on a proportional representation system, dividing each of Lebanon's governorates into two districts or more while keeping the regions of Aley and Chouf as a single district.

Instead of staging the polls in two phases, Aoun will suggest that they be held in one phase, according to the daily.

Shall the President's proposal meet approval, the elections will be technically postponed until September. But if it fails, then the extension of the parliaments' mandate will become inevitable so as to avoid legislative vacuum, it added.

Lebanon's political parties are bickering over amending the current 1960 majoritarian election law which divides seats among the different religious sects.

They have intensified their efforts recently in a bid to agree on a new electoral law before the expiry of the deadlines.

They are discussing several formats of a so-called “hybrid” electoral law that combines the proportional representation and winner-takes-all systems.

While Mustaqbal has rejected that the electoral law be fully based on proportional representation, arguing that Hizbullah's arms would prevent serious competition in the party's strongholds, Druze leader MP Walid Jumblat has totally rejected proportional representation, even within a hybrid law, warning that it would “marginalize” the minority Druze community.

The country has not voted for a parliament since 2009, with the legislature instead twice extending its own mandate.

The 2009 polls were held under an amended version of the 1960 electoral law and the next elections are scheduled for May 2017.