This is the second time in the history of the country that citizens living abroad will be able to vote for their 128 representatives in the elections to be held at home on May 15.
This is the second time in the history of the country that citizens living abroad will be able to vote for their 128 representatives in the elections to be held at home on May 15.
Lebanese expatriates began casting their votes for parliamentary elections on May 6, state media said, two years later unprecedented economic crisis which prompted a mass exodus. While opposition figures pinned their hopes on the diaspora, experts say the elections were expected to maintain the status quo despite years of economic slowdown.
This is the second time in the country’s history that citizens living abroad are able to vote for 128 of their representatives in the elections to be held at home on May 15. Migrants begin voting at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) Beirut time on May 5. Nine Arab countries and Iran, while the remaining 48 other countries will vote on 8 May.
the first since the upcoming election Protesters took to the streets in a big way Against the country’s ruling elite in 2019, widely blamed for the collapse of the economy.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib said on Thursday that Lebanese living abroad can vote in more than 205 polling stations. More than 2,25,000 people have registered to vote abroad, up from nearly 92,000 in the 2018 elections – although only 50,000 of them voted at the time.
But voter registration, while on the rise, is relatively low among the millions of Lebanese living abroad and their descendants. The economic crisis forced middle-class Lebanese, with families, fresh graduates, doctors and nurses to flee in search of a better future.
While the opposition group expects expatriates to vote for change, in 2018 only 6% of foreign voters chose independents – according to a recent Paris-based report Arab Reform Initiative, Traditional party candidates have sent messages to many migrants in recent weeks, urging them to vote.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on voters registered abroad to “not become complacent and vote in large numbers”. After the voting is over, officials will send the ballot boxes to Lebanon’s central bank through private companies. After this, the votes will be counted after the elections to be held on May 15.
Although many Lebanese hope they can vote for traditional parties, experts say this was unlikely because the opposition candidates are dissatisfied, inexperienced and short of cash. Former prime minister Saad Hariri said he would quit politics in January and that his party would boycott the elections, leaving behind a leader of its Sunni community before the election.
Less prominent Sunni people, including some politicians from his own party running as independents, are trying to reclaim Mr. Hariri’s influence and snatch a seat in parliament.