The leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (CPL), Gebran Bassil. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — The head of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Gebran Bassil (Batroun) filed a complaint against the Lebanese Forces and Kataeb parties on Sunday, accusing them of exceeding electoral spending limits.
Here’s what we know:
• Bassil submitted a complaint to the Electoral Supervisory Commission requesting that the two rival parties be referred to the Public Prosecution for exceeding spending limits, according to a statement from the Free Patriotic Movement.
• Bassil argued that the widespread presence of advertisements belonging to the two parties proved that they have been exceeding spending limits, saying “it is unreasonable for this number of advertisements to remain below the spending ceiling.”
• The 2017 electoral law limited campaign spending per candidate to a fixed amount of LL150 million plus LL5,000 per voter in the major district, in addition to a list allowance of LL150 million per list member but these limits were raised late last year.
• The new limits are LL750 million per candidate plus LL50,000 per voter in the major district, with the list having an additional LL750 million allowance per member.
• Under the current limits, for instance, Gebran Bassil’s list in North III has a collective limit of LL100.7 billion, or $3.8 million at the current parallel market rate, compared to the former limit of a paltry LL11.1 billion, or $424,000 at the current parallel market rate.