Expectations of the Resident Lebanese as well as those who Live Abroad

Dr. May Rihani

Washington D.C.

International development expert, academician, and author.

The Lebanese Constitution is clear about treating all Lebanese equally wherever they live. The Constitution recognizes that Equality is a main pillar of its vision and implementation. This is one of many reasons why Lebanese who live abroad never feel that their rights are less than those of nationals residing in Lebanon. The feeling of belonging to Lebanon neither fades nor diminishes thanks to many reasons, among them this clear assertion in the Constitution.

Most Lebanese thought that January 2025 was a turning point, when we elected a new President, whose allegiance was clearly to the Constitution and not to regional powers interfering in Lebanon’s politics. Then a new Prime Minister was appointed: a man who respects the Constitution, upholds its just goals, and acknowledges the importance of geopolitical changes and their impact on political decision-making in Lebanon. The Prime Minister appointed a cabinet whose majority ministers respect the priorities of the Lebanese population, including absolute respect for Lebanese sovereignty and equality among the Lebanese people.

In January 2025, most of the Lebanese, no matter where they resided, thought they had turned an old page of decision-making that was driven by fear and obedience to regional forces, and that they had started a new chapter driven by the will of the Lebanese, no matter where they resided. We all applauded President Joseph Aoun when he delivered his Allegiance Statement setting the tone for the coming six years of his presidency. We, again, all applauded, twice this time, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, first when he appointed his ministers based on qualifications, specializations, clean records, and a commitment to the priority needs of the Lebanese population; and the second time when the Cabinet shared with the population its plan of action and its the timetable.

These first few steps of the new administration in Lebanon made most of the Lebanese really think and feel that we truly turned the page.

However, the past few months had a different taste: A few decisions were made that had the smell of the old regime:

1. Parliamentary Elections and the Vote of the Lebanese Diaspora. A majority of parliament members submitted a petition to place an item on the agenda for the next parliamentary meeting regarding the Lebanese elections, particularly the vote of the Diaspora for the 128 members of parliament; the Speaker of the House refused to add the item to the agenda. The Prime Minister and the majority within his cabinet submitted a request to the Speaker of the House in support of the petition of the majority of the parliamentarians, and the Speaker of the House refused again to acknowledge the request underlining that neither the majority of the members of the parliament, nor the majority of the ministers, can oblige him to place an item on the agenda. This reminded the Lebanese population of the old regime, which did not take into consideration the will of the majority. This also made a large number of the Lebanese question why the President does not use his role as the arbitrator “Hakam” based on the Constitution, to defend the right of the members of Lebanese Diaspora regarding their equal right to vote for the 128 members of the parliament, and based on two precedence, one in 2018, and the other in 2022, when the members of the Diaspora voted for the 128 from their places of residence. While mistakes were made in the past regarding this issue, when the Syrian regime was oppressing the political decisions in Lebanon, we should not allow these mistakes to continue being the rule.
   This behavior is starting to chip away at the confidence that most of the Lebanese population had towards this new administration. If the right decision is made, which is to allow all the Lebanese to vote for 128 members of the parliament, including the decision that the members of the Diaspora can vote from their residential places, the confidence will not be shaken — if such a decision is not announced soon, the confidence towards this new administration will start to wane.
2. The Large Allocation to the Council of the South: Just last week, Lebanon’s parliamentary finance committee approved the transfer of roughly $90 million in reserve funding for the Council of the South as part of the 2026 budget, to support reconstruction in areas damaged by Israeli bombardment in last year’s Israel-Hezbollah war. According to parliamentary sources present at the Finance and Budget Committee meeting, MPs affiliated with Amal and Hezbollah stressed that the state must transfer a significant share of its reserve to reconstruction in the South. It is important to recognize that according to Finance Minister Yassine Jaber, in August 2025, the Ministry of Finance transferred $1.7 million to the Council allocated to reconstruction efforts in southern Lebanon. Then, in September 2025, another $25 million was proposed to the Council in the draft budget. Together, the 2025/26 allocations bring the total funding directed to the Council of the South to approximately $116.7 million. The problem relies in two facts: a) the Council of the South is known to be a main arm of the Amal movement which continues to totally control its funds, as well as Mr. Nabih Berry, the Speaker of the House, is shrewd enough to know how to maintain influence over the funds that the Council receives; and b) Amal’s close alliance with Hezbollah increases the concerns over this large public funding allocation, especially that it is well known that past funds allocated to the Council, never had proper oversight and transparency, and most probably will continue to lack proper oversight and transparency in the future. Lebanese political researchers and analysts raised their voices regarding the political financial grab in Lebanon, specifically around funds allocated to the Council of the South. The expectations were that this new administration would not continue to behave like past administrations without any serious concern about the transparency of such allocations. Many were hoping that the new regime under President Joseph Aoun, and under Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and the new cabinet, would do its best to strengthen the government institutions and their decision-making processes, as well as their implementation capacity, and not rely on old institutions and councils that were used by specific parties and political figures for their own benefits. The Lebanese also expected this new regime to take new measures of transparency, announce them, make the Lebanese population fully aware of them, and assure the Lebanese people that such measures of transparency will seriously weaken corruption and its networks, and slowly but surely will reach a stage where corruption is eliminated. For the new administration in Lebanon to allocate such huge amounts of funding to the Council of the South without announcing the implementation of new measures of transparency is like shooting itself in the foot.
3. The possibility that these large allocations are in response to political pressure from Hezbollah. Naim Kassem, the Head of Hezbollah, is insisting that the Lebanese state bear financial responsibility for reconstruction. This insistence is the result of the group’s serious financial problems and the increasing weakness of its financial institutions. Also, it is important to recognize that Iran’s financial support for Hezbollah is facing tightened international monitoring, and that after the fall of Bashar Al Assad, funding channels through Syria became more limited. Many Lebanese fear that these large allocations to the Council of the South will serve three objectives: a) allow some of these allocations to go to some Hezbollah members so it can replace the funds that the Hizb used to receive from Iran through Syrian channels and as a result appease Hezbollah; b) a large percentage goes to Amal members and their areas, and as a result appease the Speaker of the House Nabih Berri, and c) such funds could strengthen al “Thunai AshShii” in the upcoming parliamentary elections of 2026.
4. Two major issues are becoming serious concerns: Treating all the Lebanese Equally, and EnsuringTransparency and Oversight. Finally, the Lebanese population truly believed that this new regime would treat all Lebanese equally, and the parliamentary elections of May 2026 will be the first proof of this. Also, most Lebanese believed that the new administration would fight corruption hard and would do everything possible to stop it in its tracks. The President, the Prime Minister, and the majority of the ministers of the new cabinet, do have the power of realizing the hopes of all the Lebanese (those who reside in Lebanon and those who reside outside Lebanon) by implementing the constitution and ensuring the equality of all Lebanese, strengthening the institutions of the Lebanese government in order not to allow any party or any alliance of parties to impose their wills on the Lebanese governmental institutions, and by refusing to channel large allocations of funds outside standard ministerial frameworks, so as not to weaken centralized oversight and avoid corruption.

There is still time to abide by the Constitution and to implement what most of the Lebanese population is expecting the government to do, and there is still time to truly prove that this administration is different than the one that came before it; however, the time is getting shorter by the day.

We are at a crossroads; the right direction lies in having decision-makers guided by the constitution, and responsive to the will of the majority of the Lebanese.

May Rihani

Experience in International Development

Worked with the governments of 40 countries

Author and Editor of 13 published books.