Beirut, May 8 (BNA): Lebanese in more than 40 countries began voting in national elections on Sunday, with many of them reeling from the support of political newcomers after the worst crisis since the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war, which led to Poverty spread and sparked a wave of unrest. migration.
Just under 200,000 Lebanese living abroad are eligible to participate in the parliamentary elections, the first since the 2019 financial crash and the port explosion that killed more than 215 people and devastated large parts of Beirut in August 2020.
Voters in Lebanon are scheduled to cast their ballots on May 15, according to Reuters.
Observers expect large numbers of expatriates to vote for candidates from a coalition of activists and independents who gained notoriety during the 2019 protests against the political elites who have held power for decades.
“I want a change,” said Samer Soby, a truck driver who votes in Sydney. “I don’t want the same people, the same people every four years, and if not the same people, their children, if not their children, their relatives. What about us?”
Australia, where Sobbi lived for seven years, is among the countries with the largest diaspora votes, along with Canada, the United States, France, Germany and the United Arab Emirates.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bouhabib said turnout in Dubai reached 15% in just two hours, as the queue of voters outside the Lebanese consulate stretched for nearly a kilometer despite the high temperatures.
Bou Habib said that the turnout in 10 mostly Arab countries on Friday was about 60 percent, in line with the overall turnout in the 2018 foreign elections.
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.
Anton Wahb, a 62-year-old construction worker, who voted in Sydney for only the second time since leaving Lebanon in the 1970s, was among those enthusiastic about the idea of change.
“It’s the first time that so many people have come to vote because we need to change into new young people – new people, new blood,” he said.
“Go and vote, that’s it. That’s what we want you to do.”