Nearly two months before the parliamentary elections scheduled for May 15, the performance of the political authority continues to raise confusion about the actual readiness of the concerned authorities to organize the elections at the required level. In addition to the non-disbursement of funds to the Electoral Supervisory Commission to monitor electoral spending and electoral media and advertising, and the uncertainty that pervades the entire electoral process, there is frequent talk of obstacles and issues with some logistical procedures, putting the integrity and democratization of the electoral process at risk….

In this context, the Electoral Reform Coalition received several complaints about logistical and technical difficulties faced by candidates when trying to complete their candidacy applications before the closing date of March 15, 2022:

First, employees at the Ministry of Finance work only two days a week, which is woefully inadequate to receive applications from all candidates in order to obtain a receipt from the ministry proving that they have deposited the nomination fee, as required by the electoral law. This inevitably leads to a backlog of applications and delays in processing them, and affects the relatively small number of registered candidates so far. This is of real concern to us as it means that the legal deadlines for candidacy are not respected and are limited to a few days, contrary to what is stipulated by law, and this is a de facto situation.

Second, those wishing to run for office face an issue in opening an “election campaign account” in Lebanese banks, which is required by the current electoral law to be attached to the declaration of candidacy, despite the BdL circular issued on February 10, 2022, which urged banks to accept candidates’ requests to open their election campaign accounts. Despite this circular, and despite the short time before the closing of the candidacy door, banks still refrain from applying the circular, citing the current situation, in violation of the law, and even treating the issue lightly, as if the issue is happening in another country. The opening of a bank account does not solve the issue, as candidates are required to pay from the bank account only through bank “checks,” which is an obstacle today in light of the collapse of the banking sector.

Accordingly, the Electoral Reform Coalition calls on the Ministries of Interior and Finance and other concerned authorities to work immediately to resolve these obstacles, which, if they persist, would impede the course of the upcoming parliamentary elections as a whole, as well as directly affect the integrity and democracy of the entire electoral process, threatening to empty it of its content altogether.