Lebanon postpones parliamentary elections by two years

Lebanon's parliament on Monday postponed legislative elections by two years, according to a statement from the parliament speaker, due to the war between Israel and Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes.

"Parliament approved the extension of its term for two years," a statement from parliament Speaker Nabih Berri read, after the polls were initially due to be held in May.

MPs convened even as Israeli warplanes flew above the nearby southern suburbs of Beirut. A majority of 76 MPs voted in favour of extending the parliament's term, 41 voted against, while four abstained.

Several lawmakers of Hezbollah's 13-member bloc were present, including its head Mohammed Raad, an AFP photographer saw. Reports had claimed last week that Raad was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Lebanon has postponed elections on several occasions in the past.

It did so twice between 2013 and 2014, citing political divisions and instability in Lebanon stemming from the war in neighbouring Syria, and a third time in 2017 due to a dispute over the electoral law.

During the last election in 2022, Hezbollah and its allies lost their parliamentary majority against traditional opponents and independent candidates born out of Lebanon's 2019 protest movement.

Parliament remains heavily divided between the two camps.

Before Monday's session, political rivals had already clashed over the electoral law and expatriate voting rights, as Hezbollah and Berri's Amal Movement sought to bar Lebanese from voting from their countries of residence.

Before the outbreak of the latest round of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, political forces hostile to the militant group - with American encouragement - sought the postponement of parliamentary elections, a diplomatic source said at the time.

The move to delay the polls came as the Lebanese government also committed to disarming Hezbollah.

It was opposed by the group as it sought to reassert its political presence after the major losses it suffered against Israel.

(Agencies, The New Arab)