MP Simon Abi Ramia. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — MP Simon Abi Ramia (Free Patriotic Movement/Jbeil) filed an appeal to the Parliamentary Elections’ Supervisory Commission reporting multiple electoral campaign infractions.
Here’s what we know:
• Abi Ramia, an incumbent MP who won reelection in May's elections, alleged that candidate lists in Jbeil (Mount Lebanon I district) had committed several electoral infractions during the campaigning period, including using undisclosed funding, direct and indirect vote-buying, bribing observers, and breaking electoral silence online.
• According to the National News Agency, Abi Ramia alleged that “(these) electoral law infractions, notably the lists’ indirect vote-buying was most prominent through the paying off of school tuitions and medical bills.”
• The Free Patriotic Movement deputy said he aimed to blow a whistle “against the rampant corruption culture” and called upon the supervisory commission to investigate the reported complaints and impose appropriate consequences.
• Multiple former MPs and other unsuccessful candidates, including Elie Charbachi (Beirut I) and Faisal Karami (North II), have filed appeals to the Constitutional Council against the election results, with the final deadline for appeal being tomorrow.