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ELECTIONS 2022

Interior minister signs decree setting date for elections

Interior minister signs decree setting date for elections

The decree still requires the signatures of President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Najib Mikati to be formalized. (Credit: Joseph Eid/AFP)

BEIRUT — Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi on Monday signed a decree that effectively schedules the upcoming parliamentary elections for May 15, L’Orient Today’s correspondent reports.

Here’s what we know:

    • The decree also schedules the voting date for Lebanese expatriates on Friday, May 6, or Sunday, May 8 in countries where May 6 is a holiday. Additionally, employees who are managing the elections will be scheduled to vote on May 12.

    • The decree comes after Parliament approved amendments to the electoral law that allows elections to take place on March 27 rather than their original date on May 8, in order to avoid campaigning during Ramadan when some Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. Parliament also recommended that elections take place on March 27.

    • The Free Patriotic Movement, which was founded by President Michel Aoun, has opposed the rescheduling of elections and argued that inclement weather may affect turnout at the polls and that the proposed dates would exclude many new voters who will not have reached the legal age to vote. Aoun has reiterated that he will not sign a decree that moves the elections to March.

    • Legal experts including former Interior Minister Ziad Baroud have told L’Orient Today that Aoun’s signature on the decree, along with those of Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi, are required for elections to take place.

    • A decree must be signed 90 days in advance of elections, making today the deadline for Aoun to sign a decree that would schedule elections for March. The president also has scheduled a speech today in which he is expected to talk about the upcoming parliamentary elections.

BEIRUT — Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi on Monday signed a decree that effectively schedules the upcoming parliamentary elections for May 15, L’Orient Today’s correspondent reports.Here’s what we know:    • The decree also schedules the voting date for Lebanese expatriates on Friday, May 6, or Sunday, May 8 in countries where May 6 is a holiday. Additionally, employees who...