Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil arriving at the Beirut Forum on Oct. 11, 2025. (Credit: FPM website)
With just a few months ahead of the legislative elections, scheduled for May, Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader Gebran Bassil appears ready to do whatever it takes to prevent an amendment that would grant expatriates the right to vote for the homeland’s 128 MPs. Article 112 of the electoral law limits their representation to just six MPs. At a time when the debate on this issue has been raging between the Amal-Hezbollah led camp, (and which includes the FPM) on the one hand, and its opponents on the other, Bassil started an initiative suggesting that expatriates be given the choice to vote, from their place of residence, either for a candidate representing the diaspora (one of the six MPs provided for in the current law) or for the MPs running in their electoral district. Some context Bassil proposes dual voting option for diaspora,...
With just a few months ahead of the legislative elections, scheduled for May, Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader Gebran Bassil appears ready to do whatever it takes to prevent an amendment that would grant expatriates the right to vote for the homeland’s 128 MPs. Article 112 of the electoral law limits their representation to just six MPs. At a time when the debate on this issue has been raging between the Amal-Hezbollah led camp, (and which includes the FPM) on the one hand, and its opponents on the other, Bassil started an initiative suggesting that expatriates be given the choice to vote, from their place of residence, either for a candidate representing the diaspora (one of the six MPs provided for in the current law) or for the MPs running in their electoral district. Some context Bassil proposes dual voting option for...
