Parliament in uproar: Lebanese MPs clash over elections and diaspora voting

Report by Lara El Hachem, English adaptation by Mariella Succar

The political clash over Lebanon’s electoral law dominated Monday’s parliament session, overshadowing the legislative agenda that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri had intended.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, steering the session, ruled that discussions should focus solely on legislation, noting that any amendments to the electoral law should be handled by the subcommittee reviewing all proposals, not in the plenary.

In response, MPs from the Kataeb Party, Lebanese Forces, the Change and Reform bloc, and the Moderation bloc insisted that discussions on armed groups and the electoral law were a priority. They withdrew from the session, causing a loss of quorum, after Berri rejected any debate beyond legislative matters.

The opposition MPs are pushing for expatriate voting for all 128 parliamentary seats, while the Amal-Hezbollah bloc, supported by the Free Patriotic Movement, insists on applying the current law, allowing diaspora voters to elect six MPs or return to Lebanon to vote in their districts. The standoff reflects purely electoral calculations, analysts say.

The debate escalated into accusations of trying to derail the elections, notably between MP Ali Hassan Khalil and Lebanese Forces MP Pierre Bou Assi. Khalil accused the opposition of attempting to sabotage the vote, prompting sarcastic applause from Kataeb, Lebanese Forces, and Change bloc MPs. 

Khalil responded by calling the interruption “impolite,” to which Bou Assi replied that the comment “backfires on you.”

MP Kabalan Kabalan backed Khalil, joking, “Let’s turn this into a school of troublemakers.” 

The session ultimately ended due to disruptions from members of both sides.