[20220512]IN11924_黎巴嫩2022年议会选举.pdf

CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress INSIGHTINSIGHTi i Lebanons 2022 Parliamentary Elections May 12, 2022 Lebanon plans to hold parliamentary elections on May 15, the first since the emergence in 2019 of a protest movement calling for the removal of the countrys ruling political elite. Parties allied with the March 14 political coalitionwhich seeks close ties with the United States, France, and Saudi Arabiahope to win a majority in parliament. The 2018 elections resulted in a parliamentaryand therefore cabinetmajority for the March 8 political coalition of Hezbollah and its allies, which seeks close ties with Syria and Iran (see Figure 1). As of 2022, forces opposed to Hezbollah remain splintered, and some analysts question whether the election can overturn the current March 8 majority. The relative strength of Hezbollah and its allies in the next government may impact congressional consideration of additional aid to Lebanon, as the country struggles with an economic crisis the World Bank described as possibly among the top three “most severe crises episodes globally since the mid-nineteenth century.” Lebanons Confessional System Shapes Elections Lebanese pol