The secretary-general of the Higher Defense Council, Gen. Mahmoud al-Asmar, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on Dec. 22, 2022. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — The Higher Defense Council Friday decided to place “all the security and military forces in the hands of the Interior Ministry on May 15,” ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for that day, the presidency’s Twitter account reported.
Here’s what we know:
• During its meeting at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, in the presence of President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun, President Michel Aoun “stressed on the administrative and security cooperation to organize the parliamentary elections without any problems,” the presidency’s tweet quoted Aoun as saying.
• The Higher Defense Council also decided to form an operation room at the Interior Ministry to monitor all aspects of the parliamentary elections.
• Energy Minister Walid Fayad was quoted by several local media outlets after the Higher Defense Council meeting saying that Interior Minister Mawlawi and Electricité du Liban agreed “to provide all 26 registration centers with 14 hours of electricity between May 5 and 16,” and to secure the remaining hours via private generators.