Voting in Lebanon’s first parliamentary polls in almost a decade kicked off in Australia Sunday with thousands of people casting their ballots in the historic election.

Some 12,000 members of Australia’s Lebanese community are registered to vote, Lebanon’s embassy in Canberra said, a week before the May 6 election that will carve out the country’s political and economic trajectory.

“It’s a special day today, it’s democracy day. As you can see everyone is happy here,” Nazih Keir, a 44-year-old member of the Lebanese Muslim community in Sydney, told AFP at a polling station next to the huge Lakemba Mosque.

“We’ve been now from 2009 with no election — nine years and a bit more — and it is the first time in Australia, that is why we are so happy to get involved in the election in Lebanon and we hope that everyone gets what he wants.”

With an estimated community of 230,000 — which includes Lebanon-born migrants and their families — Australia is among the largest diaspora groups outside of the Americas.

“It is a good feeling for us to feel like we are involved in making a decision in Lebanon and we feel that we can make changes,” said Danny Gea Gea, 48, a Christian member of the Lebanese community.

Source: AFP