Selective accountability: Lebanese Parliament acts on Bouchikian amid demands for broader justice

Report by Maroun Nassif, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi  

In a rare and sudden move, the Lebanese Parliament is set to vote Wednesday on lifting the parliamentary immunity of MP and former Minister George Bouchikian, allowing the judiciary to proceed with an investigation into allegations of corruption, bribery, embezzlement, and extortion involving factory owners.

The decision follows two meetings in recent weeks between the Parliament's Bureau and the Administration and Justice Committee, which led to the formation of a parliamentary investigative committee. That committee, comprising MPs Georges Adwan, Alain Aoun, and Marwan Hamadeh, has submitted a formal recommendation to the General Assembly to lift Bouchikian's immunity.

The vote requires a simple majority—only 65 MPs need to be present, and just 33 votes are necessary to pass the motion, making approval all but certain.

The anticipated move would mark a rare moment of accountability in Lebanese legislative history. The last time Parliament lifted a member's immunity was in 2000, when MPs Habib Hakim and Yehya Chamas faced legal proceedings. Before that, it was Chahé Barsoumian in 1999.

While the decision is being welcomed as a positive step toward enabling judicial investigations, it has raised broader questions about selective accountability. 

Critics are questioning why the Parliament failed to act on similar requests from Judge Tarek Bitar in the Beirut Port blast case, specifically involving MPs Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zaiter—both of whom have long benefited from political protection.

Observers note that Bouchikian's expulsion from the Armenian Tashnag party's parliamentary bloc may have made him an easier political target. The concern, they say, is whether the move signals genuine reform or simply a convenient exception.

Calls for broader accountability persist. 

The Parliament is also expected to vote on the formation of a committee to investigate alleged corruption in the Telecommunications Ministry during the tenures of former ministers Nicolas Sehnaoui, Boutros Harb, and Jamal Jarrah. That effort also requires 65 votes, a number insiders believe can be secured.

Still, activists and citizens alike are asking why the Parliament has not launched similar probes into numerous other allegations of corruption and public fund mismanagement involving former ministers from key portfolios such as finance, public works, energy, interior, foreign affairs, and the displaced.

For many, lifting Bouchikian's immunity will only carry weight if it marks the beginning of a broader effort to hold all officials accountable—regardless of their political affiliations.