BEIRUT: An election watchdog said Wednesday that 10 candidates had won uncontested in the upcoming parliamentary elections, after the deadline for presenting candidacies expired Tuesday night.
“Article 50 of the Law 25/2008 says that if the deadline for submitting nominations to run for elections elapses and there is only one candidate for a certain seat, that candidate is considered the uncontested winner,” the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections said in a statement.
“Accordingly, 10 candidates, among the 514 hopefuls, including 35 women, are officially considered uncontested winners, and, as such, the Interior Ministry is under the obligation to notify immediately and in writing the speaker of Parliament."
The statement, which comprised a breakdown review of the process of preparing for elections, said the Interior Ministry respected the legal deadline by issuing a decree calling on the electorate to cast their vote in the upcoming poll 90 days ahead of actual voting.
However, the statement added, the decree failed to provide for the voting of Lebanese expatriates, except in two countries, namely Kuwait and Australia.
“Many countries where Lebanese expats had registered to be able to vote were left out, depriving thousands from participating in the ballot in countries of their residence,” the statement said.
It underlined the government’s failure to set up the election monitoring committee tasked with overseeing electoral campaigns, including spending, within the legal deadline.
“The monitoring committee was supposed to start functioning 100 days ahead of election date, which is set on Nov. 16, 2014. In other words, it should have been launched on August 8, 2014, a delay that was not respected,” the statement added.
It pointed out that polling stations should be determined and their locations announced publicly at least 30 days ahead of elections. “Hence, the (interior) minister should issue a decision in that regard and publish it in the Official Gazette by Oct. 17, 2014.”
Disagreement over the feasibility of having elections in the absence of a president of the republic and under the existing unstable security conditions is weakening the possibility of holding the poll as scheduled in mid-November.
Parliament might be extending its mandate for a second time if elections failed to take place. The legislature extended its term in May 2014 because rival politicians could not agree on an electoral law.
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