It is expected that the second phase of voting for the Lebanese abroad will start on Sunday in the countries that adopt this day as a weekend, bringing the total of the countries that witness the votes of the expatriates to 59.
The parliamentary elections in the diaspora are the first indicator of the electoral process, not only in terms of the readiness of Lebanese institutions, but also to know the voters’ trends, numbers and options.
striving for change
The Lebanese “Farid” who lives in Riyadh told “Sky News Arabia”: “We want change, and we are all here carrying the change spirit and you do not find among us anyone who thinks otherwise. This is our day, we wear the Lebanese flag on our clothes. We want to tell the world that we yearn for change.” We are working to restore Lebanon to our bosom.”
And as Jana Jabbour, who is also a resident of Saudi Arabia, said that she voted at the Embassy of Lebanon in Riyadh and was “surprised by the high level of organization and arrangement in the voting process, the high turnout and the way volunteers work.”
Voters Zakaria and Sami, who live in Kuwait, say, “The turnout was good, but after suffering, we reached the headquarters of the designated tent, and we thought that we were among those registered in the embassy’s lists through the Internet, but we did not receive the electronic acceptance approval.”
He continued to “Sky News Arabia”: “Unfortunately, it became clear to us that we do not have the right to vote after we discovered that we were not registered with the Lebanese embassy in Kuwait, and there is a defect in the electronic registration method.”
And they added: “We registered our names at the embassy, but we did not receive the electronic approval. Despite our possession of the Lebanese identity, we were unable to vote.”
They described the atmosphere of the elections, saying: “In the Al-Daiya area in the capital, where the Lebanese embassy is located, a large tent was set up. According to the Lebanese regions, the tents were distributed and filled with lists, committees and delegates, and what was remarkable was the yearning for change.”
Optimistic about turnout
The official in the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, Hadi Hashem, said, in a statement to the media, on Friday: “The number of voters reached 11,200 as of 4:00 pm on Friday, Beirut time. They cast their votes outside Lebanon.”
Hashem explained that “compared to the previous session, the turnout was good, and no problems were recorded, and all political bodies and non-governmental organizations confirmed that the atmosphere was calm,” and described the situation as a “democratic wedding”, praising the “good echoes of the electoral process.”
Regarding the failure to receive the names of many voters on the electoral lists inside Lebanon, Hashem said: “There are revisions in the disqualification lists in front of the Ministry of the Interior to search for names that were not registered on the disqualification lists.”
Lebanon is proceeding with the completion of the elections abroad that many depend on to get out of the political stalemate, which has hampered the implementation of reforms, at a time when the country has not yet been put on the path out of its stifling economic and financial crises.
It is scheduled, after the end of the voting process, that the ballot boxes after being closed with red wax will be transported through a private shipping company to Lebanon to be deposited in the Central Bank, provided that they are sorted and the votes are counted at the conclusion of the elections scheduled for May 15.
The elections are taking place in the absence of the most prominent Sunni political component, led by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who announced his reluctance to run for the elections.
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