Cabinet continues to review the 2026 draft budget

BEIRUT — The Cabinet on Wednesday pressed ahead with discussions on the 2026 draft budget, though several provisions still require further review before a final version can be sent to Parliament.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam chaired the afternoon session at the Grand Serail, where ministers continued reviewing the draft 2026 budget. Information Minister Paul Morcos said several articles still needed to be "reexamined and verified," after a round of debate the previous day.

On Tuesday, the government had limited itself to acknowledging flaws in the current electoral law, particularly concerning the diaspora vote. But it avoided taking a stance on potential amendments, leaving the matter for Parliament’s joint committees. That meeting was marked by Justice Minister Adel Nassar’s departure, after discussion of the law skirted the sensitive question of whether Lebanese expatriates should vote for all 128 members of Parliament.

The 2017 electoral law was the first to grant expatriates the right to vote from overseas. But it also introduced a clause allocating six additional parliamentary seats to the diaspora — one per continent — a measure many observers see as restrictive. The provision was suspended in the 2022 legislative elections, when expatriates instead voted based on their original constituencies (without adding the six diaspora seats to the parliament). At the time, an amendment to the law was exceptionally adopted for that election. Unless amended again, the six-seat clause is due to take effect in the 2026 polls.