The Lebanese Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam (right), and the Minister of the Interior, Ahmad al-Hajjar, at the Grand Serail in Beirut, on April 24, 2025. (Credit: @grandserail/X)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam visited the Ministry of the Interior on Monday morning to launch operations for the central unit overseeing municipal elections, set to begin next Sunday in Mount Lebanon.
During the visit, accompanied by Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar, Salam said the government has "kept its promise" to organize the elections, and that the ministry is "ready."
"We had promised that the municipal elections would be held on time, and we have kept our promise," Salam said from the ministry. He said he saw firsthand that "the Ministry of the Interior is ready to oversee the electoral process."
Salam said the municipal elections could be "a first step toward the long-awaited activation of administrative decentralization," stressing the importance of the event to "revitalize the country." Once the elections are completed, he said, the Cabinet can "look into various other projects," including decentralization reforms outlined in the 1989 Taif Agreement that ended Lebanon's civil war. Although promised in multiple government declarations, these reforms have never been fully implemented.
Salam also urged young people to run for office and vote in the elections, emphasizing the need for "new blood and renewal in Lebanese political life."
For his part, Hajjar said the ministry has conducted "diplomatic contacts with the committee in charge of overseeing the cease-fire agreement" in South Lebanon to ensure security during the vote. The South continues to experience almost daily Israeli attacks, following a recent bombing in a southern suburb of Beirut.
"We are moving according to the agenda of the Lebanese state, not that of the Israeli enemy," Hajjar said.
Candidacy registrations open in the South
Candidacies are now open for municipalities in South Lebanon, where voting is scheduled for Saturday, May 24. A new computerized system is available at the Saida Serail to register candidates' files, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent.
The governor of the South, Mansour Daou, visited the Serail on Monday to oversee the process, which was described as "smooth" by Ibrahim Antar, president of the Saida Mukhtars Association.
The vote in the South will coincide with the 25th anniversary of Lebanon's liberation from Israeli occupation, marking the withdrawal of Israeli forces in 2000 after years of conflict.
This year's commemoration takes place against the backdrop of ongoing tensions. Following the war last autumn between Israel and Hezbollah, the Israeli army continues to occupy five positions on Lebanese territory that it considers "strategic."
The Prime Minister also called on “young people not only to vote, but also to stand as candidates.”
“Reform is not only about projects, laws and structures, but also about renewing political life with new blood. This is your country, and its development begins in your municipalities,” he said.
“The decision to hold municipal elections on schedule in all regions of the South, the southern suburbs, the North, Mount Lebanon, the Bekaa and Beirut is an affirmation of Lebanese sovereignty and the will of the Lebanese State,” said the interior Minister.
The minister added that he held talks with the governor of Mount Lebanon, Mohammad Mekkawi, on “the measures to be taken in the event of an incident,” as he would do with the other governors before the forthcoming elections.
“We are working in coordination with all the authorities on the ground: governors, sub-prefects, security forces and the military. We have no option but to meet this deadline on time,” he added.
The dates for the municipal elections are:
- May 4 in Mount Lebanon
- May 11 in North Lebanon and Akkar
- May 18 in Beirut, Bekaa and Baalbeck-Hermel
- May 24 in South Lebanon and Nabatieh.
