Lebanon Heads to Polls To Elect New Parliament Under Shadow of Economic Crisis

The people of Lebanon went to the polls on Sunday for the country’s first parliamentary election since being seized by a major financial crisis, but experts believe that it will not lead to any major change. Some 3.9 million Lebanese citizens are eligible to vote.  The polls opened on Sunday at 7 a.m. and are scheduled to close at 7 p.m. Nationals age 21 and over are required to travel to and vote in their ancestral towns and villages. The economic crisis has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic as well as the massive damage caused by the explosion in the Beirut Port explosion in 2020. Lebanese expatriates began voting on May 6, two years into the unprecedented economic crisis that spurred a mass exodus from the country. It is the second time in the country’s history that citizens residing in 48 countries abroad are able to vote for their 128 representatives.