The leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT – Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil said Thursday that there is no excuse for not setting up megacenters in time for May 15 legislative elections. Such centers are envisioned to facilitate voters casting ballots in the upcoming polls close to where they reside, rather than having to travel to the village in which they are registered.
Here’s what we know:
• Bassil said in a tweet Thursday, “The government has created 219 centers in 59 countries around the world, so there is no excuse for not having seven in Lebanon. Except if we want to prevent people from voting because of the distance and the cost of transport.”
• According to him, there is enough time to begin setting up the centers, which aim to facilitate voting, and that costs are “acceptable.”
• Last week, the FPM supported the proposal of President Michel Aoun, who had expressed the need to “create megacenters so that citizens can exercise their right to vote without having to go to their villages far from their place of residence.”
• Some observers believe that the FPM could use the pretext of the absence of megacenters to justify a postponement of the poll.