Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has called for a meeting of the joint parliamentary committees on Tuesday morning to examine several proposed amendments to the electoral law, ahead of the 2026 legislative elections.
Among the proposals are the so-called "Orthodox law" and a bill to establish a Senate, a reform envisioned in the 1989 Taif Agreement.
The committees on Finance and Budget, Administration and Justice, National Defense, Interior and Municipalities, Health, and Labor and Social Affairs will meet to review the proposed changes, according to the state-run National News Agency.
Two of the bills under discussion were submitted by MP Ali Hassan Khalil, a senior aide to Berri. The first would amend the 2017 electoral law — under which the 2018 and 2022 elections were held — by replacing the current 15-district system with a single national district based on proportional representation.
The second bill proposes the creation of a Senate, comprising 46 members elected according to confessional quotas and maintaining parity between Christians and Muslims. Under the proposal, the current confessional allocation of parliamentary seats would be eliminated, and the Chamber of Deputies would no longer be elected on a sectarian basis.
The “Orthodox” law, first introduced in 2013, envisions Lebanon as a single electoral district but allows voters to cast ballots only for candidates from their own sect.
