MP Gebran Bassil speaking at the inauguration of the LDE conference in Beirut on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (Photo sent by the FPM)
MP Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), spoke Monday in Beirut at the inauguration of the "Lebanese Diaspora Energy" (LDE) conference — an initiative he launched during his tenure as minister of foreign affairs.
He called on members of the diaspora in attendance "not to align themselves with alliances and not to tolerate being marginalized," stating that Lebanese expatriates are "partners in development, not mere observers of the country's collapse."
"Lebanon will not be saved by alliances, but by its free diaspora, linked only to a just state," he declared.
Addressing the issue of expatriates' right to participate in parliamentary elections from their countries of residence, he positioned himself as the guarantor of this right.
Bassil and his party support the current law stipulating that expatriates must vote for six MPs designated for the diaspora, not for all 128 seats in Parliament, while other rival political groups, such as the Lebanese Forces (LF), advocate for expatriates to vote according to their original constituencies (as do many diaspora associations).
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who shares Bassil’s view on the matter, refuses to put it to debate in the chamber. On Monday, Bassil warned against "the cancellation of three rights of expatriates: voting from abroad, having direct representation, and running as candidates from abroad."
Furthermore, the FPM leader laid out what he called "his long-term vision for the diaspora issue," detailing a series of goals: creating a national emigration council, strengthening expatriates' rights in the Constitution, granting privileges to expatriates through specific legislation, improving coordination with the state, launching cultural and educational programs such as language learning, including issues specific to expatriates in school curricula, and supporting intellectual production that reflects Lebanese identity.
He concluded by insisting on the importance of protecting émigrés from opportunistic political discourse.
