BEIRUT: The Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections launched its monitoring campaign for the 2013 parliamentary elections Tuesday, despite the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming polls.

“As of today, LADE will launch a comprehensive monitoring of the performance of all the concerned bodies in the upcoming elections,” LADE’s secretary-general, Adnan Melki, said in a news conference at the organization’s headquarters in the neighborhood of Sanayeh in Beirut.

The Interior Ministry began accepting the applications of candidates for the upcoming elections last Monday, but the Cabinet hasn’t yet voted on the formation of the election supervisory committee, which should have been launched 10 days before the door opened for candidates.

Melki said the organization would monitor the performance of the Interior Ministry, municipalities, the election supervisory commission, the candidates, political parties, the government and the judiciary.

In addition, LADE will monitor the general political atmosphere as well as the media during the candidacy period until elections are held.

Melki said representatives of the organization would be present throughout the country in order to report any electoral violations.

LADE will also accept reports of violations from citizens through their website, www.lade.org.lb, and a hotline, 03-962-013, as well as a smart phone application.

Some 2,500 LADE observers will be deployed at all the polling stations throughout Lebanon in order to monitor the election process.

Commenting on the prospects of a technical delay of the elections if an agreement is not reached on a new electoral law, Melki said: “All senior officials insist that a technical delay is not legal unless a new electoral law is adopted, and we share this opinion.”