Latest news with #LebanonElections
LBCI
03-07-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Expat seats in limbo as Lebanon heads toward 2026 elections
Report by Maroun Nassif, English adaptation by Laetithia Harb In 2017, ahead of the 2018 parliamentary elections, Lebanon's parliament passed a new electoral law—Law No. 44/2017. Among its provisions was the creation of a new electoral district, District 16, allocating six parliamentary seats to Lebanese citizens residing abroad. These seats were to be divided evenly among Christian and Muslim sects: one each for Maronites, Orthodox, and Catholics, and one each for Sunnis, Shiites, and Druze. To delay the implementation of the measure, parliament explicitly stated that the expat seats would not apply to the 2018 elections but would instead come into effect in 2022—a five-year delay that many critics now describe as a calculated stalling tactic. Then, in 2021, just months before the 2022 elections, parliament convened once again to amend the law. This time, lawmakers suspended the application of key articles—particularly Articles 112 and 122—effectively shelving the expat seats for another round of elections. Instead, Lebanese citizens abroad were allowed to vote for candidates in their original home districts. As Lebanon approaches the 2026 elections, the same scenario is unfolding again. Critics argue that the so-called six expat seats have become an empty promise, repeatedly used to placate diaspora demands while avoiding actual implementation. Eight years after the law's passage, successive governments—formed by the same political blocs that dominate parliament—have yet to issue the necessary executive decrees to operationalize the overseas seats. These include critical details such as candidacy conditions, voting procedures, and how expatriate MPs would physically attend committee meetings and legislative sessions. According to Lebanon's constitution, MPs cannot delegate attendance or voting duties. Eight years after the law's passage, successive governments—formed by the same political blocs that dominate parliament—have yet to issue the executive decrees needed to activate the six overseas seats. These decrees would define candidacy requirements, voting mechanisms, and how expatriate MPs would attend committee meetings and legislative sessions. According to Lebanon's constitution, lawmakers are not allowed to delegate their attendance or voting rights. What hasn't been done in eight years is unlikely to be accomplished just months before the 2026 elections. And even beyond the expat seats, other key electoral reforms—such as biometric voting cards and the creation of 'megacenters' that would allow people to vote outside their home districts—remain unaddressed.
Asharq Al-Awsat
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Fear of Losing Seats Drives Resistance to Reforming Expat Voting Law in Lebanon
The Lebanese Parliament's recent tensions over electoral reforms have laid bare the political calculations of the main blocs. Statements by Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad that 'there is no level playing field in expat elections' capture why the Shiite Duo (Hezbollah and the Amal Movement), along with the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), refuse to amend the current voting law. That law limits expatriate voters to strictly electing six MPs, rather than allowing them to vote in their home constituencies like residents. This stance is rooted in the 2022 elections, when overseas ballots overwhelmingly favored opposition candidates, especially independents and reformists. For Hezbollah, Amal, and the FPM, any shift risks further eroding their parliamentary share. Lebanon's political forces are sharply divided: on one side are Hezbollah, Amal, and the FPM, who oppose amending Article 122, which reserves six seats for expatriates; on the other side stand the Lebanese Forces, Kataeb, the Democratic Gathering, independents, and reformist MPs, all of whom back proposals to let expatriates vote in their districts in 2026. Tensions flared during Monday's parliamentary session when Speaker Nabih Berri rejected efforts to place the amendment on the agenda. Researcher Mohammad Shamseddine told Asharq Al-Awsat the refusal stems from a fear that expanded expatriate voting would yield even more unfavorable results for these factions. Shamseddine noted that about one million Lebanese abroad are eligible to vote, almost a third of the electorate. In 2022, around 141,000 expatriates cast ballots, influencing outcomes in eight districts and twelve seats, mostly favoring reformists. The number of overseas voters could rise to 250,000 in 2026, amplifying their impact. According to Shamseddine, Hezbollah and its allies secured only around 29,000 expat votes in 2022, compared to 27,000 for the Lebanese Forces alone. This gap is expected to widen further. For analyst Sami Nader, director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, Hezbollah's resistance also reflects its desire to prevent military setbacks from morphing into political defeat. He argues the party is keen to cling to what influence it has left, especially since it struggles to mobilize diaspora voters as effectively as it does domestically. Meanwhile, expatriate groups and Maronite bishops abroad have pressed Lebanon's government to protect their right to vote in their home constituencies. Maronite Bishop Charbel Tarabay warned against any attempt to 'deprive expatriates of their connection to the homeland.' Opposition parties, including the Lebanese Forces and Kataeb, have vowed to fight what they see as an effort to sideline the diaspora. As Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea declared: 'We will use every democratic and legal means to restore expatriates' right to vote in their districts, to keep them tied to Lebanon.'
The National
04-06-2025
- Business
- The National
Back to square one: Lebanon's local elections have taken the country in the wrong direction
Lebanon recently finished the last round of its municipal elections, and the message was not reassuring. Lists backed by the country's sectarian political parties were largely victorious. This anticipates a period of continued polarisation at a time when Lebanon needs to be unified around a project to benefit from the changing dynamics in the Middle East. Writing in the US-based International Policy Digest, Mohammad Fheili, executive in residence at the American University of Beirut, expressed a more general mood in Lebanon about where the country was going. Commenting on US President Donald Trump's recent tour of the Middle East, Mr Fheili noted that 'Lebanon [was] conspicuously absent from the conversation. Lebanon wasn't simply left off the agenda. It seems to have vanished from it altogether'. The mood among leading parties inside Lebanon seems blithely detached from the broader shifts in the region. The main Christian political party, the Lebanese Forces, took pride in its victories in the towns of Jounieh and Zahleh, while doing well in other Christian bastions. For the party's leader, Samir Geagea, this bodes well for parliamentary elections next year, when the Lebanese Forces hope to form an even larger bloc than the one they have today. Of particular urgency for Mr Geagea is not only to marginalise the Free Patriotic Movement led by Gebran Bassil, but also to push back against any potential electoral challenge by candidates supported by President Joseph Aoun, whom Mr Geagea quietly regards as a rival. Candidates backed by Hezbollah and the allied Amal Movement did well in the south and in the Baalbek-Hermel regions, but that was expected. Following the recent military defeat of Hezbollah by Israel, it was not likely that voters would oppose the party, displaying divisions that would only compound the Shiite community's setbacks because of the war. Similarly, in other areas, candidates backed by the political class did well. This was less visible in the Sunni community, given that Saad Hariri, once the dominant communal representative, failed to engage with the elections. However, renewed Saudi interest in Lebanon, albeit limited, and the downfall of the Assad government in Syria have helped revive a community that had often felt sidelined during the years of Hezbollah's hegemony. Yet if the elections were largely interpreted in domestic political terms by the sectarian political parties, Mr Fheili's doubts were reaffirmed when it comes to the region. A fragmented country, led by self-interested political parties focused on short-term gains to secure communal ascendancy, is hardly one optimally prepared for regional transformations. There may be exceptions to this. As my colleague Maha Yahya of Carnegie has noted, Mr Trump's decision to lift sanctions on Syria may have positive repercussions on Lebanon's banking lobby, which has systematically blocked financial reforms, fearing that banks may be forced to bear the greatest burden of losses from the financial collapse of 2019-2020. Today, if reconstruction resumes in Syria, Lebanon's banking sector anticipates playing a major role in the process. However, this can happen only if it agrees to a restructuring, allowing banks to refloat themselves. Until now, there has been resistance in the sector, both because there has been no agreement over who – banks, the state, or the central bank – would cover the largest share of losses and because restructuring may eliminate several banks. The reality is that many nations appear to have lost patience with Lebanon, which over the years has thwarted numerous efforts to reform its economy. The country is a graveyard for new approaches, as it remains under the thumb of political, financial and commercial cartels that unfailingly shoot down most ideas aiming to break a debilitating stalemate. Yet the message in Mr Trump's visit to the region was fairly evident. He seeks a world in which economic relations and self-interest prevail, but also, it seems, one in which China, Russia and the US have their spheres of influence. If that's his vision, the Middle East will remain an area of competition between the US and China, which implies that the countries of the region have much to gain by positioning themselves between rival superpowers. Yet Lebanon, once the quintessential middle-man country, is devoid of ideas, and is struggling with a geopolitical situation that is catastrophic. Israel's regional strategy has shifted to one of enhancing its security by fragmenting its Arab neighbours, and acting, or planning to act, with impunity inside their territories. This could be fatal for Lebanon. In light of this, Lebanon must press forward in its dialogue with Hezbollah to secure the group's disarmament. Only then will it be able to free the south of Israel's occupation and normalise the situation enough to think strategically about its regional place. This would reassure outside countries that it is progressing enough for them to provide vital foreign investment. But even that may not be enough if Lebanon doesn't overcome its incapacitating sectarian factionalism. Unless this happens and the Lebanese come together to shape a common vision for the future, the country will remain an afterthought – a place bleeding its youth to the advantage of more vibrant societies. Like a dried flower, it will be both beautiful and dead.
Al Jazeera
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Hezbollah holds firm in Lebanon's municipal elections
Beirut, Lebanon – As southern Lebanon continues to suffer from sporadic Israeli attacks despite a ceasefire signed in November between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, establishment parties have emerged as the biggest winners of municipal elections. Voting took place over four weeks, starting in Mount Lebanon – north of the capital, Beirut – followed by the country's northern districts, Beirut and the eastern Bekaa Valley, and concluding on Saturday in southern Lebanon. While Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim political and armed group, suffered setbacks to its political influence and military capabilities during 14 months of war with Israel, the group's voter base was still intact and handed it and Amal, its closest political ally, victories across dozens of municipalities. 'The Hezbollah-Amal alliance has held firm and support among the Shia base has not experienced any dramatic erosion,' Imad Salamey, a professor of political science at the Lebanese American University, told Al Jazeera. Despite establishment parties winning the majority of seats across the country, candidates running on campaigns of political reform and opposition to the political establishment also made inroads in some parts of the country, even winning seats in municipalities in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah historically has enjoyed strong support. In Lebanon, there is no unified bloc of reformists although political actors and groups that emerged during the 2019 antigovernment protests over the economic crisis are referred to locally as 'el-tagheyereen', or change makers. 'Alternative Shia candidates in some localities were able to run without facing significant intimidation, signalling a limited but growing space for dissent within the community,' Salamey said. The fact the elections were held at all will be seen as a boon to the pro-reform government of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who came to power in January, say analysts. The polls, initially set for 2022, were delayed three times due to parliamentary elections, funding issues and the war with Israel, which started in October 2023. Critics, however, argued the elections favoured established parties because the uncertainty over when they would be held meant candidates waited to build their campaigns. As recently as March, there were still proposals to delay the elections until September to give candidates a chance to prepare their platforms after Lebanon suffered through the war and a two-month intensification by Israel from September to November, which left the country needing $11bn for recovery and reconstruction, according to the World Bank. The war left Hezbollah politically and militarily battered after Israel killed much of its leadership, including longtime Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and his successor Hachem Safieddine. The war reordered the power balance in Lebanon, diminishing Hezbollah's influence. Many villages in southern Lebanon are still inaccessible, and Israel continues to occupy five points of Lebanese territory that it has refused to withdraw from after the ceasefire. It also continues to attack other parts of the south, where it claims Hezbollah still has weapons. With their villages still destroyed or too dangerous to access, many southerners cast ballots in Nabatieh or Tyre, an act that recalls the 18-year Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000. During the occupation, elections for southern regions under Israeli control were also held in other cities still under Lebanese sovereignty. Hezbollah has given up the majority of its sites in the south to the Lebanese army, a senior western diplomat told Al Jazeera and local media has reported. The recent post-war period also brought to power a new president, army commander Joseph Aoun, and the reform camp's choice for prime minister, Salam, former president of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Municipal elections are not seen as an indicator of the country's popular sentiment due to low voter interest and local political dynamics differing from those at the national level. Some analysts dismissed the results, calling them 'insignificant' and added that next year's parliamentary elections would more accurately reflect which direction the country is headed. Voter turnout was lower in almost every part of the country compared with 2016, the last time municipal elections took place. The places it fell included southern Lebanon, where 37 percent of the population voted. In 2016, 48 percent of its voters cast ballots. This was also true in most of the Bekaa Valley, an area that also was hit hard during the war and where Hezbollah tends to be the most popular party. In the north, voter turnout dropped from 45 percent in 2016 to 39 percent in 2025. In Beirut, the turnout was marginally higher – 21 percent in 2025 compared with 20 percent in 2016. Many people in southern Lebanon are still living through the war as Israel continues to carry out attacks on areas like Nabatieh. While some in and from the south have questioned Hezbollah's standing and decision to enter into a war with Israel on behalf of Gaza when they fired rockets on the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms territory on October 8, 2023, others still cling to their fervent support for the group. 'The municipal elections confirmed that Hezbollah and the Amal Movement remain strong,' Qassem Kassir, a journalist and political analyst believed to be close to Hezbollah, told Al Jazeera. 'The forces of change are weak, and their role has declined. The party [Hezbollah] maintains its relationship with the people.' Although reform forces did win some seats, including in Lebanon's third largest city, Sidon, they were largely at a disadvantage due to a lack of name familiarity, the short campaign time and misinformation circulated by politically affiliated media. Claims of corruption and contested election results marred voting in parts of the north, where many candidates from traditional political parties dominated. In Beirut, forces for change were dealt a heavy blow. After receiving about 40 percent of the vote in 2016, which still was not enough to earn them a municipal seat, the reformist Beirut Madinati (Beirut My City) list won less than 10 percent of this year's vote. The defeat took place despite the worsening living conditions in the capital, which critics blamed on establishment parties, including those running the municipality. 'The municipality lives on another planet, completely detached from the concerns of the people,' Sarah Mahmoud, a Beirut Madinati candidate, told Al Jazeera on May 18 on the streets of Beirut as people went out to vote. Since an economic crisis took hold in 2019, electricity cuts have become more common, and diesel generators have plugged the gap. These generators contribute to air pollution, which has been linked to cardiovascular and respiratory ailments in Beirut and carries cancer risks. Despite the criticisms and degraded living situation in the city, a list of candidates backed by establishment figures and major parties, including Hezbollah and Amal, but also their major ideological opponents, including the Lebanese Forces and the right-wing Kataeb Party, won 23 out of 24 seats. This list ran on a platform that stoked fears of sectarian disenfranchisement and promised sectarian parity. Municipalities, unlike Lebanon's parliament, do not have sectarian quotas. The unlikely coalition of establishment parties, which was similar to the successful list in 2016 that aligned establishment parties against reform candidates, puzzled some in the capital. In separate incidents, television reporters confronted representatives from Hezbollah and the Lebanese Forces, drawing angry and confrontational reactions from them but little clarification as to why they'd align with an avowed enemy. Bernard Bridi, a media adviser for the list, said its priority was to bring in a foreign consultancy that would advise the municipality on how to manage Beirut like other major international capitals. She added that the opposing parties decided to unify because the stakes are so high this year after years of economic suffering, particularly since the war. Critics, however, accused the establishment parties of trying to keep power concentrated among themselves rather than let it fall to reformists who could threaten the system that has consolidated power in the hands of a few key figures and groups in the post-civil war era. 'The question is what are you fighting for,' Karim Safieddine, a political organiser with Beirut Madinati, said, referring to the establishment list. 'And if they can tell me what they're fighting for, I'd be grateful.' Now the nation's eyes will turn to May next year as parties and movements are already preparing their candidates and platforms for parliamentary elections. In 2022, just more than a dozen reform candidates emerged from Lebanon's economic crisis and subsequent popular uprising. Some speculated that the reform spirit has subsided since thousands of Lebanese have emigrated abroad – close to 200,000 from 2018 to 2021 alone – and others have grown disillusioned at a perceived lack of immediate change or disagreements among reform-minded figures. Many Lebanese will also have last year's struggles during the war and need for reconstruction in mind when heading to the polls next year. Some have started to question or challenge Hezbollah's longtime dominance after seeing the group so badly weakened by Israel. Others are doubling down on their support due to what they said is neglect by the new government and their belief that Hezbollah is the only group working in their interests. 'Taken together, these developments imply a future trajectory where Shia political support for Hezbollah remains solid but increasingly isolated,' Salamey explained, 'while its broader cross-sectarian coalition continues to shrink, potentially reducing Hezbollah's influence in future parliamentary elections to that of a more pronounced minority bloc.'
Asharq Al-Awsat
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Lebanon Wraps Up Local Vote in South Amid International Pressure on Israel
Lebanon completed the final phase of its municipal and local elections on Saturday in the southern governorates of South Lebanon and Nabatieh, under what officials described as 'international guarantees' aimed at deterring Israeli interference amid heightened cross-border tensions. The vote went ahead just two days after a violent escalation along the Lebanese-Israeli border, which raised fears of disruption. Lebanese officials said diplomatic pressure was exerted on Israel to avoid any military action that could obstruct the electoral process. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who cast his ballot in his hometown of Al-Aishiyeh in Nabatieh, said there were 'guarantees' that Israel would not launch attacks during the vote. Interior Minister Ahmad Al-Hajjar visited polling stations in the border town of Shebaa, echoing those assurances. 'All diplomatic contacts have been reassuring,' he said, emphasizing the state's commitment to safeguarding sovereignty. Despite Israeli drone activity in the skies above southern villages, no airstrikes were recorded, according to local field sources. Violations of the ceasefire agreement were limited to Israeli surveillance and the firing of flares from a military outpost near Shebaa, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported. In remarks from the south, Aoun said: 'The will to live is stronger than death, and the will to build is stronger than the will to destroy.' He added that the elections marked not only the anniversary of Lebanon's 2000 liberation from Israeli occupation, but also a celebration of democracy and the people's right to choose. Aoun began his election day tour at the government compound in the city of Sidon, where he met employees alongside Defense Minister Michel Menassa and Hajjar. In a speech from the compound, he paid tribute to the soldiers and civilians who died defending the south, calling them 'a beacon of freedom and dignity for future generations.' He urged voters to turn out in large numbers, not only as a democratic right but to support candidates capable of rebuilding towns and villages devastated by past conflict. 'These elections are about development, not politics,' he said. Later in Nabatieh, Aoun chaired a security meeting and stressed the significance of holding the vote despite repeated hostilities. 'The people of the south are determined to participate, and that reflects their resilience and commitment to rebuilding,' he said. 'These elections are an opportunity to shape the future for the next generation. It is the duty of every voter to take part in Lebanon's reconstruction,' he added, expressing hope that the coming days would bring an end to the country's suffering and wars. Aoun's visit also held personal significance as he voted in the optional local elections in his hometown, where municipal seats had already been filled by consensus. 'For 40 years I've protected elections; today I vote for the first time – for the development of my village,' the former army chief told reporters after casting his ballot. He said consensus, which led to the uncontested win of municipal candidates in Al-Aishiyeh, was a form of 'consensual democracy,' noting that had there been no agreement, competitive elections would have been held, 'which is natural in a democratic system.' Asked again about the threat of Israeli attacks, Aoun reiterated that 'guarantees are in place,' and called on voters to cast their ballots decisively. 'The message today is that the south is an integral part of Lebanon, and no force should stand in the way of the Lebanese people's will to endure.'
