November 15, 2026
The results of the Beirut Bar Association elections went beyond the union framework to join the Lebanese political debate. The head of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, considered that the entitlement produced a delicate political and sectarian balance that reflects the nature of intersections and alliances between political forces at the ballot boxes.
In his first comment on the results, Bassil wrote on his account on the “X” platform: “The most important thing about today’s lawyers’ elections is that we succeeded in achieving the required political and sectarian balance in the Law Syndicate in the capital of law… for the sake of Lebanon’s 10,452 square kilometers.”
Basil’s position came in the wake of the victory of candidates Elie Qalimos, Wassim Bou Taya, Maya Shehab, and Wissam Rafiq Eid in the four vacant seats in the union council. Both Qalimos and Chehab won their seats on the list supported by the “Lebanese Forces,” “Lebanese Phalange,” and “Future Movement” parties. On the other hand, Wassim Bou Taya, the candidate of the “Free Patriotic Movement” supported by the Shiite duo, won, along with Wissam Rafiq Eid, also supported by the duo, which resulted in the return of Shiite representation to the union council for the first time since 2017.
With this comment, Bassil sought to frame the election results within the national balance equation, in a scene that demonstrated the inability of any single political alliance to seize the full four seats, embodying a complex map of alliances within the corridors of the union.
