The candidate lists competing in Mount Lebanon I electoral district during the 2018 legislative elections. (Credit: Joseph Eid / AFP)
BEIRUT — The European Union announced Monday the establishment of its Electoral Observation Mission, which will be responsible for monitoring the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Here’s what we know:
• "In response to an invitation from the Interior Ministry, the European Union has deployed an Electoral Observation Mission in Lebanon to monitor the parliamentary elections scheduled for May 15, 2022,” said the EU delegation in a statement sent to L'Orient Today. This delegation is composed of ten electoral experts to cover the different aspects of the process.”
• According to the statement sent, Gyorgy Holvenyi, a Hungarian member of the European Parliament, has been appointed chief observer of this mission. He will begin his first visit to Lebanon on Wednesday and will meet with several senior state officials, political parties, religious leaders, electoral bodies and members of civil society. “At the end of his visit, on Monday, April 11, Mr. Holvenyi will hold a press conference to officially launch the EOM,” the statement added.
• The parliamentary elections are an essential demand of the international community for Lebanon. On several occasions, the UN, the European Union and the Arab League, have called for the holding of these elections. The secretary-general of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said during a visit to Beirut last March that the pan-Arab organization was "ready to supervise the elections.”
