The Free Patriotic Movement’s political body indicated, in an issued statement issued following its periodic meeting held electronically today, chaired by MP Gebran Bassil, that “the proposal to hold parliamentary elections in March instead of May 2022, is surprising and difficult to implement due to several circumstances and reasons, foremost of which is the impossibility of moving about in mountainous areas due to rain, snow and cold, particularly in light of the high fuel prices, alongside the difficulty of organizing the election day and the hindrances that may arise.”

“This limits the electoral campaigns and the participation of voters, and reduces the time needed to secure the requirements for the election of expatriates, not to mention the unconstitutionality of shortening the deadlines related to the disqualification regulations and the abolition of the right of thousands of eligible voters, unless some intend to reduce the participation rate deliberately,” the statement added.

The statement continued to indicate that holding the elections at an earlier date will also coincide with the Christians and Muslims’ fasting during the months of March and April, expressing wonder at the reasons behind exposing the electoral process to all these risks and defects, while it can be conducted in the month of May within the constitutional deadline and outside the month of fasting and holidays.

The FPM political council reminded that the electoral law currently into effect has consecrated the sixteenth constituency, which includes the six continents as a special constituency for expatriates to be represented in Parliament, as of the 2022 electoral round, whereby six deputies will be elected by the Lebanese Diaspora, without depriving expatriates the right to vote within their original constituencies if they so choose.

“FPM will do all that is necessary to prevent the circumstantial interests and vote-winning calculations that some envisage through abandoning this legal, constitutional and strategic right of expatriates, which cost years of joint struggle by both the Lebanese expatriates and residents,” the statement pledged.