Concerned parties unevenly assessed Monday the turnout in the expatriate voting in parliamentary elections that concluded over the weekend. They were in agreement on the positive development that expatriates were allowed to vote in the polls for the first time in the country’s history.
The Interior and Foreign Ministries, in addition to monitoring organizations, agreed that the operation was effective, while other observers highlighted the low turnout.
Although 60 percent of the registered voters had participated in the polls, the number shows that only 5 percent of the overall Lebanese living abroad had participated in the process. This 5 percent is also mainly only comprised of party members.
Foreign Ministry Secretary General Hani Shmeitli told Asharq Al-Awsat that the number of expatriate voters is expected to rise in the next elections.
“The low number of registered Lebanese voters is related to their doubts that the Foreign Ministry is capable of achieving such an operation,” he said, adding that he expects 300,000 Lebanese to register in the 2022 elections.
Lebanon’s new proportional representation law allowed some 82,900 registered expatriates to vote in 39 countries for the first time ever.
About one million Lebanese live abroad, according to Shmeitli.
Researcher at Information International Mohammed Shamseddine told Asharq Al-Awsat there are 1.3 million expatriates, including 900,000 eligible voters.
He acknowledged the low turnout, saying those voters are mainly party members and their families, while the non-partisans Lebanese opted not to head to the polls.
Shamseddine stated that the voting of expatriates is not expected to affect the outcome of the May 6 elections, except in the third north electoral district that includes the towns of Zgharta, Bsharri, Koura and Batroun where an estimated 12,500 people had voted from abroad.
