The municipality of the North, burned during the riots of January 2021. (Credit: Fathi al-Masri/AFP))
BEIRUT —The power vacuum at the head of the Tripoli municipal council in North Lebanon officially ended on Wednesday, with the election of Ahmad Kamareddine, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent in the region.
The municipal council removed its confidence in the former president Riad Yamak last August, citing suspicions of "corruption," while Yamak refuted his political influence in the council.
On Aug. 12, the mohafez ("governor") of North Lebanon, Ramzi Nohra, entrusted Kamareddine with the task of chairing the council on an interim basis, given that he is the council's oldest member. On Wednesday, Kamareddine received 11 of 15 votes.
Kamareddine first chaired the Tripoli City Council when it was erected in 2016. Three years later, however, the council withdrew its confidence in him. He now returns to succeed Yamak, who suffered the same fate, which speaks volumes about the tug of war within this institution.
Tripoli is considered one of the poorest cities east of the Mediterranean and, like the rest of the country, has been affected by the unprecedented economic and financial crisis of the past three years.
Municipal elections should have been held in Lebanon this year but were postponed until next year because of the impossibility of holding both legislative and municipal elections at the same time.
Additional reporting contributed by Souhayb Jawhar.