Lebanon has set May 15, 2022, as the date for parliamentary elections, while nationals living abroad would cast their ballots a week earlier, the country's interior minister said on Monday. Lebanese voters living abroad will get to vote either on May 6 or 8, depending on their country of residence, Bassam Mawlawi said in a statement. The vote comes at a time where the country is teetering on the brink of economic collapse triggered by its financial meltdown. "I signed a decree inviting the electoral bodies to vote for members of parliament on the following days: voting for the Lebanese residing on Lebanese territory will be on Sunday, May 15, 2022," Mawlawi wrote on Twitter. Prime Minister Najib Mikati and President Michel Aoun must also sign the decree for the election date to be officially adopted. Parliament had recommended that legislative elections take place on March 27 but President Aoun said he would only sign a decree for them to take place in May. The international community has insisted that holding parliamentary elections on time is a prerequisite for Lebanon to receive billions of dollars in loans and debt relief, two years into a severe economic crisis. Mawlawi said Lebanese living abroad will vote on either Friday, May 6 or Sunday, May 8, depending on which day falls during a weekend in their country of residence. People working at polling stations will vote on May 12. A government source close to the prime minister said Mikati would definitely sign the decree, which is expected to be sent to his office by Tuesday. Once Mikati has signed the decree, it will be sent to the president for approval, and a spokesman for Aoun said he would also sign it. — Agencies
