Preparations for final round of Lebanon's parliamentary elections complete -- official

By Klovis Shwaifati BEIRUT, May 13 (KUNA) -- The commission charged with monitoring Sunday's parliamentary elections has affirmed completing preparations for the polling process, due to be monitored by Arab and foreign observers.
Lebanese voters head to polling stations on Sunday (May 15) to vote for candidates jostling to occupy a seat in the 128-member parliament, an event many citizens hope will pave the way for forming a new government, capable of resolving the country's multiple crises namely hard living conditions.
Judge Nadim Abdelmalak, head of the commission charged with supervising the elections, said in an interview with Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the poll would be supervised by the local commission, in coordination with observers from the European Union, the international Francophone organization, the Arab League and the National Democratic Institute (NDI), a US non-profit organization that deals with democracy's issues in developing nations.
Justice Abdelmalak said Lebanon had signed an accord with the EU to oversee the elections. In line with the agreement, 300 EU monitors, in coordination with Lebanese counterparts, would participate in supervising the polls, he said, adding that they would prepare a report and issue recommendations in the end of their mission.
The interior ministry and municipalities have finalized logistics and administrative preparations for the elections, temporarily suspending validity of guns' permits, barring campaigns' convoys and securing power to the ballot centers.
Abdelmalak also noted that the commission, by law, is charged with monitoring the media, advertisement, supervising expenditures, funding and maintaining basic principles namely justice and equality with respect of campaigning via the media.
The higher defense council has set up an operation room to oversee the polls and the army commander, Joseph Aoun, has affirmed that the troops are ready to help in ensuring successful polls as scheduled.
Local and Arab media have been following up on the preparations for the elections, where candidates are legally compelled to abstain from public campaigning on the polls' eve.
First phase of the elections was held on May 6-8 for Lebanese in diaspora. Proportion of the balloting abroad reached 60 percent for 225,000 registered voters.
There are nearly 3.9 million voters in Lebanon, and 1,043 candidates for the parliamentary elections, including 155 women competing in 15 electoral constituencies. (end0 ks.rk