Lebanon - November 2025

On 7 November, the government submitted a bill to Parliament that would allow citizens living abroad to vote for any of the 128 parliamentary seats in the 2026 legislative elections, with their ballots counted in their home districts. The proposal would temporarily suspend Article 112 of the 2017 electoral law, which provides for a separate diaspora constituency to elect six additional MPs under a fixed sectarian quota, one for each major confession (Maronite, Orthodox, Catholic, Sunni, Shiite, Druze). This constituency, which critics warn may reinforce sectarian divisions, was never established. In both the 2018 and 2022 elections, overseas voters cast ballots in their home districts under temporary arrangements similar to the current proposal, which supporters argue would give diaspora voters the same influence over seat allocation as residents. The bill is contentious—with different sects favoring different approaches—and it remains unclear whether the Speaker of Parliament will allow a vote.

Sources: L’Orient Today (1), L’Orient Today (2), The National, Kullana Irada, The Electoral Knowledge Network