BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said over the weekend that he supported the right for Lebanese women to grant nationality to their children and husbands.

On his Twitter feed, Hariri said: “I am all for women giving the #Lebanese nationality to their children and husbands, I think it's shameful that we don't.”

“Some are polarizing this issue and they have no right. Women and men have equal rights that’s the way it should be.”

In July of last year, a draft law which would grant women the same rights to pass on nationality as men was passed to Prime Minister Najib Mikati, but the issue is yet to be put up for discussion in Cabinet yet.

Under the current law, which activists have been rallying against for several years, only men are allowed to pass on to their children and foreign wives Lebanese nationality after one year of marriage.

Several Christian politicians argue that granting women nationality rights would tip the sectarian balance in the country, as they say many Palestinians would become citizens.

Last month, campaigners were disappointed with the approval by the Cabinet of a draft law which would grant citizenship to expatriates with a Lebanese father or grandfather, even if they themselves had not been born in the country.