Berri: 'Only Bible, Quran surpass' current electoral law

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri reaffirmed Thursday in a statement to An-Nahar newspaper his commitment to the current electoral law, declaring: "Only the Bible and the Quran surpass it."

This remark comes amid growing fears of a postponement of the legislative elections scheduled for May 2026, and, consequently, an extension of the deputies' mandate, against a backdrop of debates surrounding expatriate voting.

"No one cares more than I do about expatriates of all confessions, and I salute their national role in protecting Lebanon," he said. Addressing the Lebanese Forces (LF) party, which supports expatriate voting for all 128 deputies rather than only for parliamentarians reserved for Lebanese abroad, Berri declared: "You are the ones who accepted constituency 16, assume your responsibilities."

The 16th constituency, created by the 2017 electoral law for expatriates, allotted six seats to Lebanese abroad, distributed across six continents and according to the main confessions. Expatriates were required to vote for this specific constituency, instead of participating in the vote of their home district. This constituency was exceptionally suspended for the 2018 elections but was supposed to be implemented in the 2022 vote.

Earlier in the day, Moustapha Fouani, head of the executive body of the Amal movement, insisted: "Parliamentary elections will take place no matter what, and the electoral law in force must be applied as is, guaranteeing expatriates the right to vote, in Lebanon and abroad."

In the same vein, the parliamentary bloc "Loyalty to the Resistance," representing Hezbollah, denounced in a statement issued after its regular session chaired by MP Mohammad Raad, "the persistent attempts to bypass the current electoral law under the pretext of additional modifications, while the real goal is to exploit loopholes related to expatriate voting: unequal opportunities between candidates, lack of guarantees to ensure voters can freely exercise their choice and absence of monitoring mechanisms to prevent interference from countries involved from abroad."

The bloc maintained that "these attempts aim to radically change the legislative balance, thus posing a serious risk for the upcoming elections," and reaffirmed its "final position in favor of holding the legislative elections on time, without any postponement, in accordance with the law in force," calling on the government to "issue the necessary implementing decrees and to take the required practical measures immediately."

The debate surrounding expatriate voting is stirring the political scene, particularly in Parliament. On Tuesday, around 60 MPs, including former Hezbollah allies, boycotted a session to demand the inclusion of this issue in the agenda.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam reaffirmed his commitment to holding the legislative elections on the scheduled date and guaranteeing the right to vote for all Lebanese, regardless of their residency status. Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar stated that in the absence of a legislative amendment, the government must apply the current law as it stands.

The Interior and Foreign Affairs Ministries announced Tuesday that registration for Lebanese abroad wishing to vote will take place from Oct. 2 to Nov. 20, 2025. In this context, President Joseph Aoun met with Hajjar and reiterated the importance of holding the legislative elections on time.