'Security incidents' will not impact municipal elections says Hajjar

BEIRUT — Lebanon's Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar said Tuesday that recent "security developments" will not affect upcoming municipal elections, despite continued Israeli strikes in South Lebanon and a recent attack on Beirut's southern suburbs.

Municipal elections are scheduled to take place over three Sundays and one Saturday in May. These elections have been postponed three times, in 2022, 2023, and 2024. 

On Sunday, the Israeli army carried out an airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut for the first time in the past three weeks, raising fears of a new escalation. Following a cease-fire in late November which ended 13-month of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, Israeli airstrikes continued in Southern Lebanon on a near daily basis. Meanwhile, the southern suburbs of Beirut have been targeted three times since the ceasefire.

During his inspection of the preparations for the municipal and electoral elections in Mount Lebanon at the Baabda Saraya building, Hajjar said: "I met with the governor and the mayors and confirmed that all preparations are ready and the goal is for the elections to take place smoothly and without any issues."

"Security updates do not deter us from completing the constitutional entitlement", he added.

Later on Sunday, Hajjar headed to Dar al-Fatwa, the highest Sunni authority in Lebanon, where he met with the Mufti of the Republic, Abdel Latif Derian.

From there, he emphasized that Derian is keen to hold the municipal elections as well as to maintaining parity (between Muslims and Christians) in the city of Beirut.

Observers note that Muslim-Christian parity within the Beirut Municipal Council — not enshrined in law but a tacit consensus — could disintegrate following the boycott of the election by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his Future Movement, the main Sunni political party in Beirut.

Hajjar also reiterated that the government and the Interior Ministry "work according to the agenda of the Lebanese state and not the agenda of any foreign state.'