Lebanon holds 1st round of municipal elections

By Yakoota Al Ahmad and Betul Yilmaz

BEIRUT, Lebanon / ISTANBUL (AA) - The first round of Lebanon’s municipal and mayoral elections was held in Mount Lebanon province on Sunday.

Voting began at 7 am local time (0400 GMT) and will close at 7 p.m. (1600 GMT).

According to the state news agency NNA, voter turnout ranged between 11% and 30% in the first five hours of voting in various areas across the province.

Local media expect a higher voter turnout in the afternoon.

NNA said Lebanese President Joseph Aoun visited the Interior Ministry headquarters to oversee the voting process and pledged safe and transparent polls.

“Elections are an opportunity for the citizens,” Aoun said. “Our mission is to ensure security and the safety of the electoral process, and to monitor it throughout the day.”

Sunday’s municipal vote is the first in almost a decade in the war-torn country.

Last year, the municipal elections were postponed for the third time since 2016, due to Israeli assaults on Lebanon.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place in Lebanon since November, ending months of cross-border warfare between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which escalated into a full-scale conflict in September.

Lebanese authorities have reported nearly 3,000 Israeli violations of the truce, including the deaths of nearly 200 people and the injuries of around 500 others.

Under the ceasefire deal, Israel was supposed to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon by Jan. 26, but the deadline was extended to Feb. 18 after Israel refused to comply. It still maintains a military presence at five border outposts.