The polls closed in the Lebanese parliamentary elections at seven o'clock local time, and the Ministry of Interior announced that the voter turnout was about 32%, two hours before the polls closed.
The number of candidates for these elections is 719 candidates under 103 lists, including 56 lists in the name of change groups and civil society in the country, while the number of voters invited to participate in the elections is about 4 million voters.
The official body supervising the elections recorded violations resulting from a breach of the electoral silence by various media outlets, candidates, and political parties.
In turn, the Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi confirmed that the security situation is good, stressing that any administrative impurities will be addressed as soon as they occur.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun called on the Lebanese early today to participate in the elections;
After casting his vote in the southern suburb of Beirut, he believed that a citizen cannot be impartial in a fundamental issue such as choosing the system of government, as he put it.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati also called on citizens to do what he called a national duty, and to vote in parliamentary elections.
While inspecting the headquarters of the Internal Security Forces in Beirut, Mikati denied that the Sunni community had launched a call to boycott the elections, pointing out that the Future Movement had its own reasons for not participating.
Absence of the Future Movement
The parliamentary elections in the country this year are witnessing a fundamental change represented in the absence of the Future Movement, which for three decades has been the mainstay of the Sunni political presence.
Months ago, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced the suspension of his political activity, a declaration that observers expect will have an impact on the political representation of the Sunni community in the Lebanese scene during the next stage.
The legislative elections come after massive popular protests that erupted in late 2019, in light of an unprecedented economic and living crisis, and precede the presidential elections scheduled for next October.
It also comes about two years after the August 4, 2020 explosion that destroyed a large part of Beirut, killing more than 200 people and injuring more than 6,500 others.
Despite the increase in the number of candidates opposing traditional parties compared to the 2018 elections, many do not count on a change in the political scene that would allow addressing major issues. The traditional parties that benefit from the sectarian structure and the deeply rooted quota system have not lost their popular bases that they mobilized during the weeks leading up to the elections.
The last elections of 2018 witnessed the Shiite Hezbollah and its allies - most notably the Free Patriotic Movement led by President Michel Aoun and the Amal Movement headed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri - obtaining 71 of 128 seats in Parliament.