The recent boycott of Lebanon’s parliamentary plenary session by the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb Party is far more than another episode of procedural obstruction in a chronically dysfunctional legislature. It is a revealing moment that exposes the depth of Lebanon’s national divide and the structural failures of a sectarian political system that has long outlived its usefulness. At the center of the dispute lies the question of the diaspora vote-who gets to vote, how, and for what purpose-but beneath it lies a much larger struggle over power, identity, and the future of the Lebanese state itself.

The immediate trigger for the boycott was Speaker Nabih Berri’s refusal to allow debate on a proposed amendment to the electoral law that would permit Lebanese citizens living abroad to vote for all 128 parliamentary seats in the 2026 elections. Under the current law, expatriates are restricted to voting for just six designated seats, a compromise arrangement introduced in previous electoral cycles. Christian parties argue that this limitation artificially marginalizes the diaspora’s political weight and dilutes its reformist potential. Their objective in boycotting the session was clear: block quorum, the most frequently used and abused tactic in Lebanese parliamentary politics, and force the issue back onto the national agenda.

This standoff is emblematic of how Lebanon’s institutions have become arenas for sectarian deadlock rather than platforms for democratic debate. Since September, quorum-blocking has repeatedly paralyzed parliamentary activity, reinforcing public perceptions that the political class is incapable of governance. Yet the diaspora vote issue stands out because it directly challenges the entrenched balance of power upon which the post-Taif system rests.

The numbers alone explain why the issue is so contentious. In the 2022 elections, more than 225,000 expatriates registered to vote across 59 countries-nearly three times the figure from 2018. The largest concentrations were in France, the........

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