Boycott over expat voting forces adjournment of legislative session
Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday adjourned a legislative session due to lack of quorum, after the Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb Party and their allies boycotted in rejection of Berri’s refusal to put on the agenda a bill allowing expats to vote for all 128 seas in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The LF had said that participation in the session it would reflect “submission to Speaker Nabih Berri’s hegemony over parliament.”
“It would be a cover-up for a constitutional and ethical crime against hundreds of thousands of Lebanese expats who are facing an attempt to deprive them of their right to contribute to changing the situations through ballot boxes,” the LF bloc said.
The current electoral law only allows expats to vote for six newly-introduced seats in parliament. Sixty-five MPs, including those of the LF and allies, are meanwhile demanding to amend the law in order to allow expats to vote for all 128 seats.
Hezbollah and Amal argue that they do not enjoy the same campaigning freedom that other parties enjoy abroad and are objecting against the possible amendment.
The six-seat system had been suspended in the 2018 and 2022 elections and expats were allowed to vote for the 128 MPs, each according to their registered electoral district.
