Concerns rise among Christians ahead of Beirut municipal elections

As the municipal elections draw closer, concerns are increasing among the Christian forces, notably the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces, in the Beirut municipality. Christians fear they may be excluded from the municipal council if the elections are held.

The absence of a political Sunni leader in the capital guarantees nothing and does not prevent a repeat of the experience of the Tripol municipality in 2016, which led to the exclusion of Christians from the municipal council.

In an attempt to prevent this from happening in Beirut, the Strong Lebanon Bloc (Free Patriotic Movement) presented an expedited law proposal on February 27th aimed at amending the municipalities' law and adding the canceled Article 12. 

The proposed Article 12 calls for the election of municipal council members in Beirut based on the approved districts for electing members of parliament and electing municipal members equally between Beirut's first and second districts, with twelve members in each district, within one municipal council, as it currently stands.

On the other hand, the Strong Republic Bloc (Lebanese Forces) believes that the municipal issue in the capital should be approached as a comprehensive basket.

The two sides are reportedly consulting to avoid marginalizing one group over another in the capital.

However, everyone admits that nothing is certain. The most significant voter, the Future Movement, is absent from the scene, and therefore, there is no political reference that can sway a powerful Sunni voter bloc and translate understandings into the ballot box as they are.

It should be noted that the round of meetings held by the Free Patriotic Movement deputies with MP Nabil Bader did not achieve the desired results. Bader frankly stated that he is against amending the law since political agreements can maintain consensuality.