Interior ministry to hold parliamentary elections 'with complete neutrality and transparency,' Hajjar says

BEIRUT — President Joseph Aoun met with Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar to review ongoing preparations within the various units of the ministry ahead of the legislative elections scheduled for next May.

According to Hajjar, "the Interior Ministry is fully ready to organize this national event in the best possible conditions, with complete neutrality and transparency."

Aoun has repeatedly emphasized the need to hold the vote on schedule, "without any postponement, and with the participation of Lebanese expatriates."

The international community has also reaffirmed, on several occasions, the importance of keeping the electoral calendar without delay.

The participation of Lebanese abroad has been a subject of dispute in Lebanon for several months. Sixty-seven MPs, a clear majority of the 128 members of parliament, have called for reform of the current electoral law so that expatriate Lebanese can vote from their country of residence for all MPs, and not just for the six seats reserved for them, as stipulated by Article 112 of the current law.

Speaker Nabih Berri has categorically refused any modification of the law, notably by declining to place the issue on the agenda of a plenary session.