A group of 31 civil society organizations denounced the postponement of municipal elections on March 22, 2022. (NNA)
BEIRUT — A group of 31 civil society organizations, including the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections and Legal Agenda, on Tuesday called on the government to “back down” on its decision to postpone municipal elections, and asked parliament “not to accept this postponement.” Municipal elections were originally scheduled to take place in May 2022.
Here’s what we know:
• On March 4, the cabinet approved the postponement of municipal elections, blaming a lack of material and human resources. It proposed to hold elections on May 31, 2023, and submitted the proposal to Parliament.
• “Holding elections in their constitutional period is not a leverage or a choice … and the political authorities should not give themselves the right, on every election date, the right to assess if the conditions are suitable to hold elections or postpone them … as if these conditions can be met without an effort from the ministries responsible,” the groups said, during a press conference.
• The groups added that this postponement sets a bad precedent, and expressed fears that nothing will stop the authorities from postponing elections a second time, using security and financial conditions in Lebanon as an excuse.
• On March 4, 22 civil society groups including LADE and Legal Agenda had denounced in a statement the postponement of municipal elections and described them as a “legal and constitutional right that the Lebanese await every six years.”
• The government had promised in its ministerial statement that it would hold the parliamentary and municipal elections on time.