One month before Lebanon holds its legislative elections, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq and the Central Internal Security Council decided to deploy 20,000 military and security members over 7000 poll stations around the country as part of a security plan on election day, al-Joumhouria daily reported Friday.
Mashnouq chaired an extraordinary meeting of the Central Internal Security Council on Thursday and discussed the security plan for the May 6 elections to ensure coordination among security apparatuses.
He urged security services' chiefs to tighten security measures prior and during the electoral process, especially in terms of “combating electoral bribery and referring perpetrators to judiciary.”
The meeting dwelt on ensuring the protection of polling stations and centers, facilitating the movement of citizens during the electoral operation, and securing the transfer of ballot boxes to the registration centers.
Lebanon gears up for its first general elections in nine years on May 6, after parliament renewed its own mandate three times since 2009.
Elections will be held based on a complex proportional representation system, with the country divided into 15 electoral constituencies.
The law, only agreed in June 2017, stipulates that each voter shall vote for one of the competing lists and shall be entitled to cast one preferential vote for a candidate of the same chosen list.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/244562-security-plan-set-for-election...
