In Lebanon, the diaspora vote in the 2026 legislative elections is causing strong tensions
Ahead of the 2026 legislative elections, some political parties are calling for the implementation of a controversial electoral law for Lebanese living abroad. Critics believe the law would reduce the influence of the Lebanese diaspora.
New tensions within the Lebanese political class. On June 30, “as soon as the debates opened, the Lebanese Forces [political party and former Christian militia] and Kataeb [Christian party] blocs, as well as several MPs from the Change group, decided to withdraw from the chamber, in protest against the exclusion from the agenda of a bill aimed at amending the electoral system,” namely the right to vote for the Lebanese diaspora, reports Ici Beyrouth .
An educator, L'Orient-Le Jour looks back at the reasons for this wave of indignation within the Chamber of Deputies. Adopted in 2017 but never implemented, the law on the voting rights of Lebanese expatriates provides for “the creation of six seats "The new parliamentarians would be specifically reserved for diaspora voters, one for each of the country's main religious communities (one Maronite, one Greek Orthodox, one Greek Catholic, one Sunni, one Shiite and one Druze). Expatriates would therefore no longer vote for the 128 deputies based on their constituency of origin, but only for these six seats," the daily explains.
In the absence of application, it is the law currently in force, according to which the voter votes in his constituency of origin, which has been put into effect.
Courrier International
