Lebanon’s Parliament voted to extend its term by two years, therefore postponing legislative elections that were set to take place in May. 

76 lawmakers supported the measure, while 41 opposed it and 4 abstained from voting. 

The Kataeb Party, the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement blocs voted against the two-year extension.

The session opened with a minute of silence for those who have died since the outbreak of the war in Lebanon.

Members of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, including its head, MP Mohammad Raad, attended the session.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told lawmakers that while there is agreement on the exceptional circumstances created by the conflict, there is no clear end in sight. “There is no answer, no data,” he said, adding that the decision on the extension ultimately rests with Parliament.

Ahead of the vote, Kataeb Party leader MP Samy Gemayel highlighted the impossibility of holding elections on schedule and warned against leaving a legislative vacuum, since Parliament does not operate in a caretaker capacity.

“We had hoped the government would set the duration itself,” Gemayel said. “In our view, a one-year extension makes the most sense.”

He stressed that the country is at war, with thousands displaced from their homes and large parts of the south and southern suburbs evacuated.

“This is not a time for political point-scoring,” he said.

Gemayel added that all parties agree elections cannot take place on schedule. “A four-month extension would be unrealistic. A one-year extension is the best way to protect the timing of elections in May. This isn’t a matter to politicize.”

On the army’s role during the ongoing conflict, Gemayel said that "the military is not a political authority. It is an administrative body carrying out government decisions, like all other institutions. It does not set the country’s defense policy.”