Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea confirmed that "a new blow is being directed by the resistance axis and the Free Patriotic Movement to democracy in Lebanon, to the people's right to choose their representatives, and to the establishment of public institutions and their proper operation." He wrote on the platform "X" that "the flimsy excuse put forth by these groups to approve the third extension for municipal and local councils does not hold. They pretended that military operations in some areas of the south were a reason to postpone it for all of Lebanon, while the Ministry of Education approved exams across all of Lebanon, excluding areas that are experiencing military operations. This exclusion is not new, as evidenced by what happened in the elections themselves in 1998 in terms of the exclusion of the south and some villages where elections did not take place."
He added: "Even if we were to assume that the government is not ready, according to the arguments they present, it would be more appropriate for these MPs, if they truly cared about applying the constitution and abiding by its requirements, to convene an urgent session of the Parliament to request that the government be prepared and hold it accountable for any shortcomings in this regard, rather than falsely claiming that the government is not ready and thus facilitating a new extension for the municipal councils."
