Lebanon’s Parliament voted during the parliamentary session on Tuesday against adding 6 additional MPs reserved for the diaspora only,
The Lebanese diaspora will instead vote for all 128 MPs in their local district during the upcoming general elections, as they did in the last election cycle.
According to Article 22 of the 2017 Electoral Law, “Six seats for non-residents shall be added to the number of members of the Chamber of Deputies to become 134 members in the electoral cycle that will follow the first electoral cycle to take place in accordance with this law.”
Article 22 drew criticism from activists, arguing that it limits the voting power of Lebanese living abroad and is unfair because it doesn’t take into consideration how many Lebanese are currently living outside.
The diaspora will have more sway in the upcoming elections. It is reported that up to 300,000 people have left the country in the last two years due to the severe crises, while up to 8,000 passport applications are being submitted daily.
Lebanese people living abroad have already started registering online, with the deadline set to November 20th.
The Tuesday’s session also voted on holding the elections on March 27, instead of mid-May, a vote contested most notable by Gebran Bassil, leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM).
Parliament also rejected implementing a women’s quota, a law developed by the Fiftyfifty organization and the United Nations Development Programme, in order to get more women in positions of power.
