Lebanon's Constitutional Council rejects more election appeals

Lebanon's Constitutional Council rejected a second batch of appeals on Thursday from candidates who lost in the May parliamentary elections.

Head of the council Judge Tannous Mechleb announced the names of the lawmakers who will keep their seats until the next elections scheduled for 2026.

They were Cynthia Zarazir from the Beirut 1 district, Faisal Al-Sayegh and Waddah Sadek from the Beirut 2 district, Farid Haykal Al-Khazen from the Mount Lebanon Keserwen district, and Saeed Al-Asmar from the southern Jezzine district.

Zarazir and Sadek were among a parliamentary group of at least 13 candidates to win from secular, anti-establishment lists, who contested the ruling elite's sectarian factions for the first time since the 2019 civilian uprising.

Mechleb said he hoped the remaining six appeals will be investigated and completed in two weeks, stressing that the electricity crisis was hampering the council's work but vowed to continue "within all means possible".

The decisions were final and not subject to review.

On the race for Lebanon's next president

✍ @DarioSabaghi https://t.co/suQxSPYeBd

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) October 1, 2022

Rival parties and candidates accused each other of violating election laws during the heated May polls, such as going above the spending limit, bribing voters, and more.

Lebanon's May elections were the first vote since the nationwide 2019 protests, the massive August 2020 Beirut Port blast, and the unprecedented financial and economic meltdown the country continues to suffer.

Amid the political deadlock, Lebanon's parliament has failed four times now to elect a new president to replace Michel Aoun, whose term ended on 31 October.