Lebanon’s 2018 election marked the first time in nine years that its citizens voted for a new parliament. In order to support the Lebanese people and their government in upholding credibility, NDI conducted a long-term analysis of election preparations, fielded a pre-election mission during the campaign period in addition to an election day mission, and monitored reports covering the adjudication of disputed results.

Lebanese voters who participated in NDI's public opinion research following the country's long-awaited parliamentary elections on May 7 signaled dramatically increased optimism about the direction of the country, and held mostly positive views about the administration of the election itself. The results indicate that Lebanese voters cast their ballots with the country's stability in mind, with the hope that this could translate into economic development and job creation, which along with corruption and healthcare remain at the top of citizen policy priorities.

NDI Encourages Lebanon to Seize the Opportunity of New Parliament to Strengthen Democratic Institutions

BEIRUT, Lebanon – The National Democratic Institute (NDI) today released its preliminary statement of findings and recommendations from its international election observation mission for Lebanon's 2018 parliamentary elections, held yesterday, May 6.

BEIRUT, Lebanon – The National Democratic Institute (NDI) is fielding an international election observation mission for Lebanon’s parliamentary elections scheduled for May 6, 2018.

The delegation includes 31 political and civic leaders, elections experts, and regional specialists from 13 countries across the Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America. Leadership of the delegation is comprised of:

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) deployed an international delegation to Lebanon from March 11 - 15, 2018. The purpose of the mission was to assess preparations for Lebanon’s May 2018 elections to support efforts to conduct peaceful, credible polls.

BEIRUT, Lebanon—The National Democratic Institute (NDI) is fielding a delegation to assess preparations for Lebanon’s parliamentary elections in May.

Members of the delegation are: Daniel Mitov of Bulgaria, former Foreign Minister; Chafik Sarsar of Tunisia, former President of the Independent High Authority for Elections; and Shari Bryan, Vice-President at NDI.

As Lebanon approaches twice-postponed parliamentary elections, Lebanese voters who participated in NDI survey research completed in January 2018 signaled modest optimism and support for new candidates and approaches to address the country’s long-standing challenges. This optimism is tempered, however, by concerns about lack of economic development and endemic corruption, both of which are hindering modernization of infrastructure and basic services ranging from health care to waste management.