Joint committees to meet Wednesday over municipal polls funding

Joint parliamentary committees will convene on Wednesday morning to discuss funding the municipal elections.

Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi had urged the government to secure the necessary funds and complete the administrative preparations for the elections that are supposed to start on May 7.

Funding the elections needs a law, while Parliament cannot legislate before a president is elected.

The joint committees of finance and budget, administration and justice, national defense, interior and municipalities, national economy, trade, and industry will discuss tomorrow, Wednesday, many draft laws, including the draft law that would open a line of credit worth LBP 1,500 billion to fund the municipal elections for the year 2023.

The Lebanese Forces party has accused the Free Patriotic Movement and the Hezbollah-led camp of obstructing the municipal polls.

LF MP Nazih Matta urged the Shiite Duo and the Free Patriotic Movement to openly express that they want to postpone the elections, in remarks published Tuesday in the Progressive Socialist Party's al-Anbaa news portal.

"We are not scared of the municipal polls' results," FPM MP Alain Aoun said, claiming that his party is not seeking to cancel or postpone the polls.

the MP added that the FPM will extend the term of the current municipalities in Parliament, in case the polls were cancelled.

The Shiite Duo also said Monday in a joint statement that Amal and Hezbollah are ready for the municipal polls.

Sources of the Shiite Duo told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, in remarks published Tuesday, that they have started preparing for the municipal polls in March and that Amal and Hezbollah will run on unified lists.