BEIRUT: Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said Wednesday more than 20,000 security and military personnel would be deployed in Beirut and the Bekaa Valley Sunday to ensure safe and smooth voting in the first round of municipal elections he described as the most important for the country in decades.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri called on his supporters for a heavy turnout to vote for the Future Movement-backed electoral list, the Beirutis’ List, to consecrate equality between Muslims and Christians in power sharing.

“Some might think that the municipal elections are a purely political battle. But in reality, it is a developmental battle to improve and develop the capital and ensure the basic services for citizens,” Hariri told delegations of Beiruti families and free enterprise owners in the Future Movement at his Beirut Downtown residence in the presence MP Ammar Houri Wednesday night.

“We will defend with all the strength we have the principle of development in Beirut. We will hold accountable anyone who harms the capital and we will not be lenient with him,” he said. “Beirut should not face again a garbage problem and it must have a factory to get rid of its trash. Its streets should be lit through solar energy and electricity should be ensured around-the-clock. Beirut needs gardens, forestation, car parks and other development projects.”

Calling on Beirut’s residents to vote for the Beirutis List, Hariri said: “This list, which is based on equality [between Muslims and Christians] and embodies coexistence among all components of the capital, sets an example for all of Lebanon.”

The Beirutis’ List is facing fierce competition for the control of Beirut’s 24-member municipal council from two new groups: Beirut Madinati (Beirut my City) and Citizens within a State. The two groups have pledged to challenge the traditional grip over the municipal council by the Future Movement and its allies.

The municipal and mukhtar elections will kick off in Beirut and the Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel Sunday in a four-stage voting. Polls for the remaining governorates are scheduled for May 15, 22 and 29.

Machnouk vowed to ensure security during the monthlong election process. He scoffed at skeptics who doubted that the elections would be held on time. “You’ll see in a few days that the polls will be staged,” he said, hoping that they would pave way for other elections.

“Security forces are capable of supervising the municipal and mukhtar election process in all areas to elect 1,030 municipal councils, in addition to around 3,000 mukhtars. Therefore, Lebanon will experience an electoral month par excellence,” Machnouk told a news conference after chairing a Central Security Council meeting at his ministry’s headquarters in Beirut.

“There are more than 26,000 employees and 20,000 security personnel [to be deployed] at more than 13,000 polling stations across Lebanon during May,” he said. “With regard to security measures, more than 20,000 security and military personnel will participate in every electoral stage in order to protect voting centers and maintain security around them and inside various Lebanese villages, towns and cities.”

Machnouk confirmed reports about a 20-minute meeting held at his house between Hariri and Hussein Khalil, a political aide to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, when he was receiving condolences over the death of his brother. He said the time was not appropriate for Hariri and Khalil to talk about an alliance in municipal elections.

Nasrallah is expected to talk about the upcoming municipal elections and recent political developments in a televised speech Friday, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV station said. It added that Nasrallah’s speech coincides with a celebration for the Islamic Resistance Support Association.Machnouk said the number of municipal seats to be contested in the first round of municipal elections in Beirut and the Bekaa Valley is 2,124, while the number of mukhtar posts is 668.

He described the municipal elections are the most important to be held in Lebanon in decades following the extension of Parliament’s mandate twice in 2013 and 2014, and the ongoing presidential vacuum, which this month entered its third year with no end in sight following Parliament’s failure to elect a new president.

“We consider these elections as the only available outlet and the only available exception to revive the Lebanese democratic system,” he said. He thanked Speaker Nabih Berri for supporting him in conducting the elections in the face of skeptic who spoke about postponement of the polls.

Machnouk said the security meeting discussed holding elections in “hot areas,” a reference to the northeastern border town of Arsal, which has been the scene of fierce clashes between the Lebanese Army and militants.

Arsal’s residents will cast their votes at Army posts or centers adjacent to them, Machnouk said.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister and Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil said the municipal elections proved that past Parliament polls were delayed under false pretenses. The FPM has long criticized the extensions of Parliament’s mandate as illegal.

“[The municipal elections] are an opportunity for citizens to hold candidates responsible in front of their commitments … it’s an opportunity to seriously start implementing decentralization,” Bassil said during a news conference after a party meeting.

He added that the polls proved the passion the Lebanese people have for democracy and for practicing such a right through voting.

“Regarding the alliances, the FPM chooses its allies in the elections based on development and the local fabric. The understanding with the Lebanese Forces is still ongoing and does not come at the expense of our other allies, and we wish for a wider understanding to encompass everyone,” Bassil said.