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Lebanese elections marked with high number of youth candidates

In the parliamentary elections due in May, dozens of youth and women are hoping to break the cycle of political nepotism and bring new faces to the country’s parliament.
Lebanese students wave the national flag during an anti-government demonstration in the southern village of Hasbaya, Lebanon, Nov. 8, 2019.

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. 

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