Gemayel Criticizes Govt., Calls for 'Scrapping' Magnetic Voter Card

Kataeb party leader MP Sami Gemayel on Monday lashed out at the government's general performance mainly stressing the need to scarp the newly approved magnetic voter card arguing that that it “hits the freedom of voters.”

“The magnetic voter card has become one of the main reasons to forge the parliamentary elections. It must be scrapped immediately,” said Gemayel in a press interview.

“Most of the civilized countries do not utilize magnetic cards for their elections,” he highlighted.

Lebanon's cabinet approved on Sunday a suggestion to upgrade the citizen’s identity cards into “biometric identity cards”, or what is known as a magnetic voter card, that enables nationals to use their IDs to cast their votes at the upcoming parliamentary elections

Turning to the “$120 million” cost allocated by the government to create said cards, he remarked: “You must be kidding me. It is a very costly procedure. You must be planning a deal to add to your scandals.”

On the country's by-elections to fill three vacant seats in Keserwan and Tripoli, the Kataeb leader said: “By-elections must be staged at once. Postponing them is unacceptable because it would mean depriving the people of their right to express their views.”

Gemayel also commented on the latest IS-Hizbullah deal that led to the evacuation of hundreds of Islamic State fighters from Lebanon's eastern border.

“It was a deal to smuggle the enemy out of Lebanon which is punishable by law.”

In August, some 600 IS militants were allowed to leave as part of a deal, negotiated by Lebanon's Hizbullah, in exchange for identifying the location of the remains of Lebanese soldiers captured by IS in 2014, and later killed.

The deal has provoked controversy in Lebanon, as some voiced opposition to negotiations with the militants.

The controversial file of leasing power generating ships was also criticized by the Kataeb leader who said that officials “want to lease the power generating ships by force, meanwhile the sector can be given to the private sector.”