Nicolas Chikhani, engineer and economist, announced on Saturday his decision to withdraw his candidacy from the Order of Engineers elections, to be held on Sunday.
He said he will not take part in the elections “until all the conditions guaranteeing the democracy of the ballot are met and the rights of engineers are preserved. All our supporters are completely free to make the decision that suits them,” he stated in a press release.
As a reminder, Chikhani’s candidacy, supported by right-wing civil society and numerous independents, was initially blocked by a decision of the Order’s council due to a question of dues and was then validated by a court decision.
According to internal regulations, engineers who have not paid their dues in full are not entitled to vote or stand for election. However, at the end of 2023, the Order imposed the payment of dues in dollars, creating confusion among Order members.
As a result, “Almost 11,000 members did not pay the full amount set and were deprived of their right to vote. These people constitute 20% of the electoral base in the Order of Engineers,” Chikhani claimed.
Believing that this situation “runs counter to the democratic process and exposes the results of the elections due to take place this Sunday to an appeal for invalidation,” he asked the Order’s Council to postpone them to a later date, but in a short timeframe.
The purpose of this postponement, he added, is “to enable all engineers who are members of the Order to exercise their legitimate and democratic right to vote, irrespective of the recent dues issue, thus treating them fairly.”
Chikhani pointed out that he had already submitted a request to this effect on April 5, a request that he said had not been processed by the Beirut Council of the Order of Engineers.
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