Parliament to discuss postponing municipal elections for the third time

Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri has called a parliamentary session for Thursday devoted to discussing an extension to the terms of office for municipal councils.

On the agenda is a draft law with double emergency status, "for the extension of municipal councils and mokhtars until May 31, 2025," put forward by MP Jihad Samad. A mokhtar is a local elected official responsible for municipal records.

Municipal elections have already been canceled twice, with officials citing a lack of funding. In April 2023, Parliament postponed municipal elections by one year — for the second time — by approving a law that extended the councils' terms until May 31, 2024.

Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi announced Monday that municipal elections would be held on May 22 in Beirut, the Bekaa, and Baalbeck-Hermel districts. The ongoing fighting in southern Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, compounded by the presidential vacancy and ongoing economic crisis,  contributes to a feeling of uncertainty surrounding the organization of elections. 

The second legislative item on Thursday's docket is a draft bill regarding Civil Defense volunteers, 2,100 of which were made full employees in August 2023 and have yet to receive a salary. 

The proposed law, co-authored by Jihad Samad, Ali Hassan Khalil, Ibrahim Kanaan, Amine Cherri, Tony Frangieh, and Hassan Mrad, is focused on classifying the new employees, which has been at the root of their withheld salaries. Their designation as either security forces or civil servants provides them with different benefits.

Berri also met with Commander-in-Chief of the Lebanese Army Joseph Aoun, just back from a trip to France and a visit with French President Emmanuel Macron. Aoun also spoke with the British Chief of Defense Staff, Field Marshal Harv Smith, about Israel's war on Gaza and its repercussions in southern Lebanon.