The Strong Lebanon bloc of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), headed by Gebran Bassil, is filing an appeal on Wednesday in the Constitutional Council, against the amendments that had been made to the electoral law.
The amendments mainly include allowing the Lebanese diaspora to vote for all 128 MPs in their local district and the elections to take place on March 27th,
The FPM argues that the Lebanese embassies abroad, as well as the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Interior, won’t be prepared for the expatriate elections on March 27th.
In addition to the difficulties of holding elections owing to the weather’s conditions in Lebanon.
The appeal is also seeking to adopt the highly controversial allocations of only 6 new seats to represent the diaspora as the FPM refuses that the Lebanese expats elect 128 deputies.
FPM waited till the deadline day to file the appeal, investing in the factor of time to win the postponement of the elections from March 27th to May, because once the Constitutional Council accepts its appeal, it means that the elections will be postponed.
Gebran Bassil, head of the FPM, said: “The appeal that we will file is with the amendments and not with the election law,” noting that they insist on having the elections.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati pledged on November 8th to hold the parliamentary elections before May, mentioning that “no one can prevent the elections… If any change in the date occurred, the elections will definitely be held before May 21.”
