BEIRUT: The belated Cabinet move to set up a committee to oversee parliamentary elections jeopardizes the legitimacy of the polls, former Interior Minister Ziad Baroud said Friday as he challenged the decision, made at a Cabinet session Thursday.
“The blatant delay in the formation of the committee tasked with overseeing the election campaigns of candidates leads to many legal discrepancies that endanger the whole electoral process,” Baroud said in a statement.
He deplored the slackness that he said raised big question marks about how serious the government was in preparing for the upcoming elections, which are expected to be postponed in the absence of a head of state and due to lack of agreement over a new electoral law.
Baroud argued that the committee should have been formed at least 10 days before the decree calling on the public to cast their votes and on hopefuls to submit their candidatures was issued.
“In other words, the committee should have been designated before Aug. 9, 2014, at the latest,” Baroud said, noting that the decree kicking off registration to run for the polls was issued on Aug. 19.
“The media wishing to participate in electoral campaigning should also submit their applications to the committee at least ten days ahead of the start of the electoral campaigning period,” Baroud added.
He said the committee’s work was essential for ensuring the authenticity of the poll, notably in documenting and recording breaches that could be committed in the countdown to the vote, and are referred to in case results are challenged. The body is tasked with monitoring spending on electoral campaigns and issuing permissions for media outlets used by candidates for public campaigning.
Although holding the polls, scheduled for Nov. 16, is unlikely in light of the vacuum in the presidency, hopefuls have started submitting their candidacies within the legal deadline that expires on September 16.
Rival MP’s from March 14 and March 8 coalitions are divided over the possibility of extending the chamber’s already extended mandate. Parliamentarians extended their tenure in May last year until Nov. 2014, after they failed to agree on a new electoral draft law.
Lebanon has been without a head of state since former president Michel Suleiman's six-year term ended on May 25 amid disagreement on a compromise candidate.
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