BEIRUT — The deadline for candidates to file their candidacies in the May 15 parliamentary elections closed at midnight on March 15, with 1,043 candidates registered, including 155 women. What is most striking is the number of young candidates and independents who are running in the elections.

“Eighty-eight people aged between 25 and 35 [registered their candidacies]," said Mohamad Shamseddine, a researcher at Information International, a Beirut-based independent research and consultancy firm. 

He told Al-Monitor that this number is higher than previous in elections, and these candidates are running in different parts of Lebanon.

Mosbah Saket, 26, who is running for the Muslim Sunni seat in the northern city of Tripoli and the youngest candidate there, told Al-Monitor, “I decided to run [in the elections] because the current economic crisis has destroyed our future as young people, and we have to do something about it. A lot of people told me that if those who are older than you could not do anything, how do you expect yourself to make a difference? Despite that, I am confident that people want change, and will vote for us.”