The March 14 coalition will file an official complaint against its electoral rivals, as the final make-up of two of the group”s candidate lists are scheduled to be announced over the Labor Day holiday weekend.
After a meeting at the home of Batroun MP Boutros Harb, March 14 politicians said their rivals in the north were guilty of "major electoral violations."
They vowed to file a complaint before the Election Campaign Supervisory Committee and follow up the issue with the relevant authorities, mainly with Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud.
They also accused the parliamentary minority”s candidates in Batroun of "confiscating citizens” identity cards and abusing public resources for electoral purposes."
The attendees also criticized Telecommunications Minister Gibran Bassil, an ally of General Michel Aoun, for sending voice messages to mobile-phone owners as part of his electoral campaign. They also claimed electoral pamphlets highlighting what they called "false accomplishments to promote March 8″s candidates" were being distributed.
Meanwhile, Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri paid a visit late on Wednesday to Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea.
A statement issued by the LF press office said discussions focused on the parliamentary elections and the importance of cooperation among members of the March 14 movement.
For his part, Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader MP Walid Jumblatt said Thursday that disagreements in Lebanon were "political par excellence."
"Disagreements are not and will never be based on confessional issues," Jumblatt said following a visit to Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain al-Tineh.
The PSP leader stressed the need for dialogue to "overcome all obstacles and reach a solution" to political disagreements.
Meanwhile, former MP Fares Soueid warned that his side faced defeat in two districts if it could not forge an alliance with independent candidates.
Following a meeting with Geagea on Thursday, Soueid said: "If an alliance between the March 14 Forces and independent candidates in Jbeil is not reached in Jbeil, the March 14 Forces will not have a chance to win the elections in that district." He added that the same applied to Kesrouan.
For his part, Kesrouan candidate Carlos Edde said the head of the Reform and Change parliamentary bloc, MP Michel Aoun, "lives on another planet and mixes dreams with reality."
In an interview with Al-Massira magazine Thursday, Edde said his main concern was to "raise Kesrouan voters” awareness on the risks to support Aoun”s bloc," adding that Aoun”s victory would open the doors for Hizbullah to interfere in the Christian area.
Edde, the head of the National Bloc, added that talks were ongoing to finalize the March 14 Forces” list in Kesrouan.
Regarding the March 14 list in Aley, the PSP said the slate would be unveiled at a ceremony in Bhamdoun on Friday. It added that the list included MPs Akram Chehayeb, Fouad Saad and Henry Helou, as well as Fadi Habr.to file complaint against rivals.