The countdown has begun for the parliamentary elections, which will open for expatriates on Friday, May 6.

The number of expatriate voters reached 225,144 according to the final figures of the Personal Status Directorate at the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities, out of 230,466 applications received from diplomatic missions in countries abroad.

The number of voters decreased after the applications were revised and all those who did not meet the legal requirements necessary to participate in the electoral process were excluded.

Lebanese media confirmed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs prepared a large hall in the Ministry headquarters, with a giant screen to broadcast the expatriate election live from 58 countries around the world, depending on the timing of each.

Low turnout for expatriates in the Gulf countries

Lebanese media reported that large numbers of Lebanese expatriates in the Arab Gulf countries, who had registered to participate in the Lebanese parliamentary elections, are currently spending the holidays in Lebanon and will not return before the beginning of next week.

This prevents them from voting next Friday because they are listed as expatriates, thus not being able to exercise their electoral right in Lebanon.

Some electoral campaigns tried to return these people to their countries of residence to no avail. This means that the Lebanese expatriate voter turnout in the Arab countries will be lower than anticipated.

May 15 is the date scheduled for Lebanese residents to vote.