NNA - President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, on Sunday emphasized the importance of the achievement accomplished by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior, and those concerned with following up the progress of the Lebanese elections in the countries of emigration. The President hoped that these elections would end without problems or objections.
President Aoun’s positions came after visiting the Foreign Affairs Ministry yesterday in order to review the facts of the second phase of the voting process for the Lebanese in diaspora registered for the 2022 parliamentary elections in 48 countries.
President Aoun arrived at 10:30am this morning, and was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Abdullah Bou Habib, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Hani Shmeitli, a number of director generals in the Ministries of Interior, Municipalities and Communications, and officials who follow the progress of the electoral process abroad.
President Aoun and his companions went to the hall to follow up on the polling operations, where he listened to a detailed explanation given by the Director of Expatriates at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Hadi Hashem.
Ambassador Hashem briefed the President on the second phase of the polling operations, and pointed out that direct communication occurs via screens and the Internet with all polling stations in European and Asian countries, the Americas, Africa and the United Arab Emirates.
Ambassador Hashem also explained that volunteers from the Lebanese University students are assisting the diplomatic team in following up on the elections through screens to take notes and work on solving them.
For his side, President Aoun congratulated the work team and the volunteers on their work, inquiring about some points that were raised recently about the course of the electoral process.
Afterwards, President Aoun and Minister Bou Habib moved to the hall designated for the Election Supervision Commission, where he listened to its head, Judge Nadim Abdel-Malik, about the observations made by the commission last university day and today, Sunday.
The representative of the “Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections” (LADE) briefed the President with a presentation on the tasks it carries out in monitoring the electoral process, and the representative of the European Union, who is following up with the foreign ministry team, the voting process.
During the tour with Minister Bou Habib and the ambassadors, President Aoun reiterated that the parliamentary elections at Lebanon will take place on time, and pointed out that if the Mega Center had been adopted, it would have made it easier for citizens to move and achieved wide participation.
President Aoun’s tour ended in the great hall, where the screens directly transmit the voting operations from the polling stations scattered abroad, and he followed through the giant screens what was happening in these stations.
Then, Minister Bou Habib gave a speech in which he welcomed President Aoun, thanking him for his visit.
The Foreign Minister said “Four years ago, that is, in 2018, President Aoun visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and he is visiting us today to see the progress of the electoral process. We note that the percentage of voters in the expatriate elections that began on Friday, reached 59.5, or about 60%, in the past. Today, in the early hours of the day, it has reached about 15% in Australia, and I expect this percentage to rise. We welcome you, Mr. President”.
For his part, the President Aoun responded:
“Bless you for the achievement you have made and are doing now, because this process requires not a few efforts, and this is the second phase of these elections, and God willing, things will improve in the upcoming elections and be easier than today, so that every citizen will have a code. A code through which he can vote from his home and the result comes directly here without boxes. This is more economical for the state”.
President Aoun also hoped that “These elections will end without problems and objections”.
Finally, the President left the Foreign Affairs Ministry and bid farewell to Minister Bou Habib and senior officials. ----Presidency Press Office
