Constitutional Council Fails to Issue Ruling on Electoral Law Appeal

The Constitutional Council failed Tuesday to issue a ruling on the appeal filed by the Free Patriotic Movement against the electoral law’s amendments, which means that the adjustments will go into effect and that no six new seats will be dedicated to expats.

Admitting that the no-ruling can be considered a “flop” for the Council, Judge Tannous Meshleb, the Council’s chief, said “the appeal would not have resolved Lebanon’s crisis.”

“The elections would have happened anyway,” Meshleb added, noting that the Council “failed to secure the needed majority for all the points.”

“We have failed to reach a unified stance,” he said.

Responding to a reporter’s question about possible political interference in the Council’s work, Meshleb said: “No one has asked us to take a certain decision.”

Meshleb also denied the presence of a “sectarian” rift in the Council, while noting that the no-ruling means that elections in the 16th district, dedicated to expats, will be postponed to 2026.