As Parliament meets to approve draft laws after half a year of political paralysis, civil society organizations and the Lebanese diaspora are hoping that the cabinet will approve an electoral reform law allowing expats to vote in the 2013 parliamentary elections, among other reforms.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced that electoral reform would be one of his cabinet's main priorities, but his commitment appeared loose as he explained the cabinet would "study" electoral reforms - a process that dismisses a draft law prepared by an electoral reform commission set up in 2005. In this final draft law, the commission, headed by former minister Fouad Boutrous (and thus known as the Boutrous Committee), proposed a proportional representation system, pre-printed ballot papers, a quota for women, and the inclusion of Lebanese expats, among other reforms. The Committee's proposal was discarded in 2009, but activists hope that those proposed reforms would be implemented in the upcoming elections.

The cabinet's response to the electoral reform demands has been ambiguous. A new committee was commissioned to prepare an electoral law for 2013, raising concerns among civil society organizations that their work over the past 15 years may be neglected. The current Interior Minister, Marwan Charbel, who supervises national elections, said the committee would "take into consideration" the Boutrous Committee's draft law, but for election experts, that is not enough.

Political parties in Lebanon who stand to gain from the domestic sectarian demographics are hesitant to open up voting to a wide array of sects and political orientations for fear that it would undermine their power. Hezbollah has expressed its reservation towards this law, arguing that it would support it only if it is managed in a transparent way. Observers argue that including expats wil drastically change the demographics of the voters, potentially changing the vote in favor of Christian parties in Lebanon.

The old electoral law alienated some 12-14 million Lebanese living abroad by not allowing them to vote. This has exacerbated the problem of vote-buying in the past, as various political parties offered to cover expats' trips to Lebanon if they vote in favor of the parties. The new law empowers the expat community, which maintains excellent relations with Lebanon and provides a major boost to the economy. According to the World Bank, the Lebanese Diaspora contributed $8.4 billion in remittances to Lebanon this year, an increase from last year despite the economic slowdown the country has witnessed.

Despite the progress that has been made on this end, the cabinet is reluctant to adopt the law prepared by the previous minister and to implement it in the upcoming election. Embassies in the US and Canada have announced the procedures for voting, but the expats may have to hold off their expectations until the cabinet approves the law.