Protests near Parliament, on Aug. 11, 2026. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/ L’Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — Convened by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri since last week, the Lebanese Parliament began a new session Wednesday to vote on two critical bills, in addition to the abolition of the death penalty and the media law, which had been adopted the day before: the general amnesty law and an amendment to the bank resolution law.
Despite the walkout of Hezbollah MPs, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) MPs, and two former FPM MPs — Finance Committee chairman Ibrahim Kanaan and Simon Abi Ramia — the first of these two laws was passed less than an hour after the session began, according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA).
Tuesday evening's session had already been interrupted during debates on the amnesty law, due to a lack of quorum caused by the departure of MPs from the same Hezbollah and Free Patriotic Movement (FPM, Aounist) blocs, as well as Ibrahim Kanaan, amid tensions between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Defense Minister Michel Menassa.
The prime minister had refused to allow the minister to deliver a speech he had prepared for Parliament, while the Lebanese Army opposes granting amnesty to individuals convicted of killing soldiers. The Parliament speaker brought Salam and Menassah together before the morning session, according to multiple media outlets. Speaking after the FPM departed, MP Salim Aoun said, "The defense minister was prevented from presenting the position of the Lebanese army and his ministry," and that by walking out, the Aounist bloc "wanted to avoid endorsing such a violation."
"We recognize that it is the prime minister who speaks on behalf of the government. But this bill does not originate from the government, which means it does not represent the government's position," he added, in response to arguments presented by Salam justifying his refusal to let the defense minister speak the previous day.
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The final version of the text was supported by major Sunni factions, despite previous divisions. On one side, some MPs called for the release of as many detainees as possible, including Islamist Ahmad al-Assir, imprisoned since 2015 for his involvement in deadly clashes with the army in Abra in 2013. On the other side, several Sunni parliamentarians pushed for swift adoption of the amnesty law. The Lebanese Forces (LF) said they would support any text endorsed by all Sunni MPs.
The prime minister had posted an optimistic message on X before the session: "Toward restorative rather than punitive justice. Congratulations on yesterday's abolition of the death penalty, and I hope the general amnesty law is adopted today."
The president of the Kataeb party, MP Samy Gemayel, called on all parties to carefully review the text that would be presented to them, suggesting that further amendments could have been made after a Sunni consensus was reached.
"Since we want to repair injustices suffered by those who were wronged, others who are not victims of injustice might also benefit from the amnesty. Therefore, we do not want to broaden the process, but limit it to a specific number of people, by establishing a list with names and related crimes, or via special pardons," he explained, calling for efforts to "avoid sectarian tensions" over this debate.
Karim Souhaid present
According to the NNA, Parliament moved directly to a vote on the bank resolution law. L’Orient-Le Jour has learnt that a number of MPs who left Parliament have returned to take part in the rest of the debate on this bill.
Regarding the bank resolution law, MPs are examining a draft that includes a series of amendments to the law passed in July 2025, sent by the government and incorporating adjustments requested by the IMF, but which have since been modified by the Finance and Budget Committee.
This new version has raised concerns among several government officials contacted by L’Orient-Le Jour. According to them, some changes advocated by Kanaan, Banque du Liban (BDL, central bank) governor Karim Souhaid — also present in Parliament — and a majority of committee MPs, depart from the version negotiated with the IMF, thereby risking a scenario similar to the banking secrecy law, which had to be revised.
