The leader of the Lebanese Forces (LF), Samir Geagea, at a dinner organized by his party on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (Credit: Photo published on the LF website)
BEIRUT — Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea accused Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri of turning Parliament into “a farm,” calling on MPs to boycott Thursday’s session, following his party’s lead.
His remarks were made on Tuesday at the LF's annual dinner for its medical service, as a parliamentary session is scheduled to be held on Thursday. The LF and its allies are protesting Berri's refusal to add the electoral law's proposed amendment on the agenda.
This amendment seeks to allow expatriates to vote for all 128 MPs, and not just for six seats as the current law stipulates.
The LF, alongside the Kataeb, had already announced on Tuesday their decision to boycott the parliamentary session.
Geagea urged "all those who (...) want expatriates to be able to vote from abroad for all 128 parliamentary seats to pressure the MPs they elected so they do not attend the session," adding, "contrary to what the other side claims, this is not about blocking Parliament, but quite the opposite: it's a way to revive it."
The main opponents of the amendment to the electoral law are Amal, Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM).
"Let me be clear: the first institution that is not functioning as it should is Parliament, whose work is plagued by serious malfunctions, and that Berri has turned into a farm, to benefit his personal needs and those of his camp, no more, no less," said Geagea.
He specified that "for the past seven months, several MPs have submitted an urgent and repeated bill to amend the electoral law," reminding that "any urgent and repeated bill must be placed on the agenda: either of the first legislative session after its deposit, or at the latest, of the second. Yet Berry has not placed it on the agenda of the first session, nor the second, nor the fifth, nor even the tenth," Geagea protested.
'Completely baseless pretexts'
On Wednesday, the LF leader renewed his attack and criticized, in a statement, the "fallacious pretexts" of his opponents for not including the amendment to the electoral law on the agenda.
"The pretexts advanced by some to justify their participation in tomorrow's session, under the pretext that there are social laws on the agenda, or that World Bank loans granted to Lebanon would become void if they are not approved, are totally unfounded," wrote Geagea.
Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab stated earlier Wednesday that "the president [Joseph Aoun] wants all MPs to attend the legislative session because there are important laws for citizens to be studied, such as reform laws and others related to agreements with the World Bank," stressing "we need to legislate."
He also recalled that "paralysis harms Lebanese people, the government and the mandate [of Joseph Aoun], especially in the difficult conditions Lebanon is going through."
Without naming Bou Saab, Geagea criticized these statements: "All of that is wrong on top of wrong. World Bank loans remain valid even if they are not approved during this period."
Moreover, "any law passed in such a climate would be a flawed law, adopted in a flawed manner, by a Parliament itself managed in a flawed way," he continued.
He concluded: "Anyone who is truly concerned about the interests of citizens and their living conditions must, first and foremost, work together to put an end to the malfunctions currently characterizing Parliament's management."
The Dec. 18 session is expected to be an opportunity to continue the discussion of the agenda begun on Sept. 29, before the session was cut short due to a lack of quorum triggered by the anti-Hezbollah bloc, which is demanding a debate over expatriate voting in the 2026 parliamentary elections.
Twice, Berri tried to convene deputies again, but a majority did not show up, causing the session to be adjourned. The same scenario may happen again on Thursday.
