Beirut, May. 9/BNA/: Lebanese citizens residing abroad began voting in parliamentary elections on Sunday.
Nearly 200,000 Lebanese living abroad are eligible to participate in the elections, the first since Lebanon’s 2019 financial collapse and the port bombing that killed more than 215 people and devastated large parts of Beirut in August 2020.
Reuters reported that voters in Lebanon will cast their ballots on May 15th.
Observers expect large numbers of expatriates to vote for candidates from a coalition of activists and independents.
Australia is among those countries with the largest number of diaspora voters, along with Canada, the United States, Germany and the United Arab Emirates. France has over 28,000 eligible voters.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bouhabib said turnout in Australia was 55%, while 55% of eligible voters in the UAE cast their ballots three hours before polls closed.
The queue outside the Lebanese consulate in Dubai stretched for nearly a kilometer despite the sweltering heat, and local police were seen fanning voters with pieces of cardboard.
Ballot papers will be shipped to Lebanon and stored in the central bank before they are counted on election day
Bou Habib said that the turnout rate in 10 countries, mostly Arab, on Friday amounted to about 60 percent.
Support for the constituent parties is still evident; Near a polling station in Berlin, more than 20 people chanted in support of veteran Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
MI