BEIRUT: Najib Mikati, the Prime Minister of Lebanon, has urged residents to vote in the next parliamentary elections. "We urge everyone to vote with honesty and freedom of conscience," Mikati said as he toured an operation room set up by the country's Foreign Ministry to oversee expats' voting, which begins on Friday.
According to reports, elections within the Lebanese border are set for May 15. Only 220,000 Lebanese expats have registered to vote in the elections, despite the fact that their number is "in the millions," said the Prime Minister, who urged "those registered to vote massively in order to have their views heard and to bring about change."
The elections for the 128-seat Lebanese Parliament will feature 718 candidates, including 118 women. Sunni and Shia Muslims, numerous Christian groups, and the Druze all have members in Lebanon's Parliament, thanks to the country's sectarian power-sharing arrangement.
The president must always be a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister must always be a Sunni, and the Speaker of Parliament must always be a Shia. The holding of parliamentary elections in Lebanon is one of the many requirements required by international organisations and donor countries in order to provide assistance to the crisis-stricken country.
The country's huge financial crisis has pushed more than 70% of the people into poverty, and the Lebanese currency has lost more than 90% of its value since 2019.
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