Observers urge Lebanese to take key steps ahead of vote
Lebanon should adopt a series of measures before parliamentary elections next month to ensure that the vote is seen as credible, an international electoral monitoring organization headed by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has said.
Albright, along with former Canadian Prime Minister Joseph Clark, headed a delegation to Lebanon from the National Democratic Institute, one of the monitoring groups officially accredited to observe next month”s vote.
Speaking toward the end of their visit, the pair called for a mechanism that allowed election results to be challenged in case of controversy, improved voter education and plans to meet the logistical challenges of holding the election on a single day to be put in place before June 7th.
Current plans to form a Constitutional Council that would arbitrate in the case of challenges to election results are deadlocked due to a political impasse. "The council has yet to be formed, with many observers concerned that it will not be established by election day," a statement released by NDI said. "The delegation hopes that a means will be found between now and June 7 to break the existing political deadlock and that the Council will be established and fulfill its mandate."
They also warned that "the candidates, parties and the public" were in need of more information about the new election law, noting "confusion" about aspects of process. "The delegation hopes that between now and election day, the election authorities could expand the education campaign they launched earlier to better inform election workers and voters about new regulations," they said.
Holding the vote on a single day entails "major logistical challenges," the delegation said. "Plans must be put in place to ensure adequate voter mobility and security," they said, adding that this would take "significant management and co-ordination efforts by the Defense and Interior Ministries."
The delegation also identified a series of problems with the current process that will not be solved before election day, noting that Lebanon”s electoral system means that the "results are all but predetermined in an overwhelming majority of the races."
The lack official ballot papers is also a cause for concern ahead of the race. "The lack of pre-printed ballots can compromise the secrecy of the vote and strengthens the power of political elites, creating the opportunity for deal making and undue influence of voters."
The delegation found that the drawing of district lines had led to "discrepancies in the number of voters per district and therefore unequal weight given to each vote."
But Albright acknowledged that the new election law, which will only be used for this vote, represented a "significant step forward toward greater transparency and confidence in the process."
"Lebanon”s people alone should determine the country”s future" she said, adding that the new laws put in place for the election will hopefully "pave the way for broader changes after the upcoming poll."
The delegation said that the formation of an election supervisory committee, new campaign finance and media regulations and Interior Minister Ziad Baroud”s impartial approach to the electoral process were all "positive electoral reforms that represent improvements over past elections."
The delegation were on a four-day visit to Lebanon aimed at evaluating the preparations for the vote.