Caregivers in a hospital in Lebanon, November 13, 2020. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — Mohammad Safi was elected president of the Order of Physicians in Tripoli, after winning 216 votes against his closest competitor, Wassim Darwiche, who received 210 votes, local media outlets reported.
Here’s what we know:
• Safi was backed by the Future Movement as well as the Azm Movement of caretaker Prime Minsiter Najib Mikati. Darwiche was running on an opposition list.
• The elections for the physicians’ orders of Beirut and Tripoli were held this Sunday. In the capital, the names of the 16 new members of the council of the order were announced on Sunday. Voting to elect a new president continued Sunday evening.
• Of the approximately 16,000 doctors registered in Lebanon, 9,300 are paid up members of the orders and therefore have the right to vote in the orders’ elections. However, because 3,000 doctors are currently outside Lebanon, the electorate is around 6,300 voters.
• The electoral mode includes two rounds, the first for the election of council members, the second for the order’s president. In addition to the 16 candidates for the council of the order, each list includes a maximum of 10 additional candidates for the administrative positions of the organization (disciplinary council, pensions, mutual insurance, insurance, etc.).