The Minister of Interior submitted a study on February 25 indicating that it is legally impossible to adopt the megacenter without amending three points. The first is establishing polling centers belonging to the constituencies outside its geographical scope. The second point is allocating registration committees for these centers, and the third is the magnetic card. The required amendments cannot be made before May 15, even if it is proposed in the first legislative session and in the form of a repetitive accelerated draft law. This is in addition to the fact that it is not possible to start working on the law before it is published in the Official Gazette.
The number of megacentres required is nine, according to the Minister of Interior. The cost of equipping these centers with a special program for registration, server, internet, electricity, diesel, stationery, electoral supplies, and offices, is $4.77 million.
The time required to equip these centers is not less than 5 months, which means preparing the megacenter before May 15 is an impossible task, according to the Minister of Interior. The study also talks about the human resources required for the megacenters, and their cost which is estimated at 22.5 billion LBP.
The President of the Republic, despite these facts, insists on approving the megacenter, and confirms that he has a method that will facilitate the matter. What is this method that can bypass the difficulties of amending the law and the difficulties of securing funds?
Is the proposed solution a technical delay for a few months which aims at preparing the megacentre, while the undeclared goal is to prolong the life of this government to pass appointments and decisions that Aoun and the Free Patriotic Movement are interested in. But the question is whether Aoun will urge Mikati to take such a decision?