Bou Saab hints at possible 'technical delay' due to diaspora voting

BEIRUT — Parliament Vice President Elias Bou Saab on Wednesday called for a “political consensus” on diaspora voting for the parliamentary elections scheduled for May, while noting that the vote might not take place “before August” if re-registration of voters proves necessary.

His comments come ahead of a legislative session expected to be boycotted by lawmakers supporting an amendment to the electoral law that would allow Lebanese abroad to vote for all 128 parliamentary seats — a proposal Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri refuses to put on the agenda.

“We discussed the parliamentary elections and obstacles standing in the way, because disputes and confrontations will not lead to elections being held,” Bou Saab said. “Elections and amendments to the electoral law cannot happen without political consensus.”

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Bou Saab said he supports allowing expatriates to vote for all 128 MPs, but said doing so would require reopening voter registration abroad. That, he added, would result in a technical postponement of the elections, pushing the vote back to at least August.

“I have told those who vote for me and live abroad not to register,” he said. “If they register, they will vote for the six expatriate MPs. I tell them to come to Lebanon to vote.”

The question of expatriate voting has divided Lebanon for months. The current law provides for six seats reserved for expatriates, but the necessary executive measures to implement that provision have never been adopted.

Opponents of amending the law include Hezbollah, Amal and the Free Patriotic Movement. Supporters, including the Lebanese Forces and Kataeb, accuse their rivals of fearing the results of the expatriate vote.

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Aoun “against legislative paralysis”

Commenting on Thursday’s scheduled session, Bou Saab said Aoun opposes any paralysis of legislative work and hopes the session is held.

“The president wants all MPs to attend because there are important laws that need to be studied, including reform bills and legislation related to agreements with the World Bank,” Bou Saab said. “We need to legislate.”

He added that legislative paralysis harms citizens, the government and Aoun’s mandate, particularly given Lebanon’s current conditions.

The Lebanese Forces and Kataeb said Tuesday they would boycott Thursday’s session, citing Berri’s continued refusal to place the expatriate voting amendment on the agenda. A session on Sept. 29 was aborted for lack of quorum after an anti-Hezbollah bloc did not attend to press for debate on the diaspora vote. Berri has since tried twice to reconvene Parliament, but both attempts failed for lack of attendance, raising the prospect of another adjournment on Thursday.