Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, speaking from the Baabda Presidential Palace on Jan. 14, 2025. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Wednesday reaffirmed his commitment to holding legislative elections on schedule in May 2026 and to guaranteeing the right to vote for all Lebanese citizens, both residents and expatriates.
His remarks came a day after about 60 MPs, including former Hezbollah allies, boycotted a parliamentary session to demand debate on expatriate voting.
Speaking at the launch of a study on women’s political participation in Lebanon, Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed read Salam’s speech on his behalf.
The prime minister wrote that elections must be held “without delay or hindrance” and under “fair and transparent” conditions, especially in the South.
Salam also highlighted the need to increase women’s role in politics, calling electoral reform “a central lever” to correct Lebanon’s historic gender imbalance. He endorsed a gender quota of at least 30 percent on candidate lists and urged more support for women at all levels of the process, from candidacy to election monitoring.
Debate over expatriate voting has intensified in recent weeks. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has rejected changes to the 2017 electoral law, which reserves six seats for expatriates. In the 2018 and 2022 elections, Lebanese abroad voted according to their home constituencies.
Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar said Monday the government must apply the current law unless Parliament adopts an amendment. The Interior and Foreign Ministries announced Tuesday that voter registration for Lebanese abroad will run from Oct. 2 to Nov. 20, 2025.
