The Interior Ministry published a circular on Friday specifying that the last deadline for the withdrawal of candidacies for municipal and mukhtar elections in the governorates of Beirut, the Bekaa, and Baalbeck-Hermel, scheduled for Sunday, May 18, has been set for Monday, May 12 at midnight.

The circular emphasizes that if after the withdrawal, the number of candidates is fewer than the number of positions to be filled, it will be possible to accept new candidacies until Wednesday, May 14 at midnight.

The municipal elections, currently being held in Lebanon with a delay of three years due to successive crises that have shaken the country in recent years, are being conducted in four phases: Mount Lebanon on Sunday, May 4 (already completed), North Lebanon and Akkar this Sunday, May 11, Beirut and the Bekaa on Sunday, May 18, and South Lebanon and Nabatieh on Saturday, May 24.

The circular further specifies that unopposed winners do not have the right to withdraw their candidacy after the announcement of their victory but will have no other choice than to resign from their new position.