The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants has submitted an urgent draft law seeking to allow Lebanese expatriates to vote for all 128 members of Parliament, in a move responding to mounting pressure from diaspora communities around the world.

In a letter sent on October 13 to the Cabinet Secretariat, the ministry requested that the proposed amendment be added to the agenda of the government’s next session. The draft law calls for the repeal of Articles 112 and 122 of the current Electoral Law, which restrict diaspora representation to just six parliamentary seats.

If approved, the amendment would enable citizens residing overseas to vote according to their home electoral districts in Lebanon, effectively granting them the same voting rights as residents.

The Foreign Ministry’s initiative follows weeks of petitions and letters from members of the Lebanese diaspora in cities including Berlin, Stockholm, Ottawa, Montreal, Washington, New York, Abuja, Madrid, London, Melbourne, and Paris. The signatories urged the government to scrap the two articles, arguing that the existing system restricts their political participation and undermines the principle of equal representation.