Amal, Hezbollah discuss upcoming parliamentary elections in Bekaa

BEIRUT — Officials of the Shiite Amal Movement and Hezbollah met Sunday in Machghara, Bekaa for a preparatory meeting for legislative elections due to take place in 2022. The parties have decided on Kabalan Kabalan, a member of the Amal Movement, as the their candidate for the only Shiite seat in the Western Bekaa-Rashaya constituency, a source close to the discussions told our correspondent following the meeting. 

Here’s what we know:

    • The Western Bekaa-Rashaya district elects six members of the Lebanese Parliament: two Sunnis, one Druze, one Greek Orthodox, one Maronite and one Shiite.

    • Several questions surround the date of the upcoming elections as political tension mounts between President Michel Aoun's camp and that of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, leader of Amal. The latter insists on the legislative elections taking place on March 27 — a date Parliament has voted in favor of twice — while the Free Patriotic Movement party, which the president founded, prefers a date in May.

    • According to Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi, the elections will be held in May since Aoun is unlikely to sign the order assembling the electoral college before Dec. 27 and Lebanese law stipulates that this must be signed a minimum of three months in advance of the polling date.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article erroneously reported that Amal and Hezbollah had announced Kabalan Kabalan as their candidate for Western Bekaa-Rashaya in next year's parliamentary elections. The parties have made no official announcement as yet.