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BEIRUT — The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded on Monday to press criticism of the Consul General of Lebanon in Sydney Charbel Macaron.
Here’s what we know:
• "The ministry wishes to clarify the confusion that reigns over the distribution of voters by Charbel Macaron in the various voting centers," the Foreign Ministry said via its Twitter account on Monday. "The Consulate General of Sydney has carried out the directives of the ministry regarding the vote of Lebanese living abroad. Voters were geographically distributed according to Australian postcodes, as they appear on the registration forms," the tweet continued, saying that Lebanese political parties established in Australia helped voters to fill out their forms.
• Macaron was accused of having modified electoral lists on which Lebanese expatriates residing in Australia are registered to vote.
• Internet users have denounced the fact that within the same family, people are registered in polling centers that are extremely far from each other, which could make their access to voting difficult, if not impossible. They attributed this distribution to Macaron, considered close to President Michel Aoun and his party, the Free Patriotic Movement.
• Lebanese citizens residing in Australia will vote on May 6 and 8, while the vote in Lebanon will occur on May 15.