BEIRUT: A very small minority of Lebanese expatriates has registered at embassies worldwide to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections, as doubts grow that members of the diaspora will cast their votes in 2013.

Kesrouan MP Neamatallah Abi Nasr, a member of the Reform and Change parliamentary bloc, said reports submitted to the Foreign Ministry from Lebanese embassies around the world looked disappointing so far.

After meeting with Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, Abi Nasr said that according to the reports, only 3,712 individuals have expressed interest in participating in the elections by registering at embassies, which he said was a “frightening” figure.

“This is what I saw and heard from these reports,” he continued, “and it’s frightening. Things are not okay, and the responsibility doesn’t lie with Minister Mansour, who took over his post [only] two months ago.”

Based on these numbers, Abi Nasr said that expatriate elections were unlikely to be held in 2013.

“Voting in the 2013 elections by expats is unlikely to take place because the mechanism is not ready,” Abi Nasr told The Daily Star.

“This is shameful,” Abi Nasr told The Daily Star.

“Do you think the Lebanese government will earmark millions of dollars to hold elections for 3,712 or 10,000 or 20,000 or even 50,000 Lebanese abroad?” he asked.

Abi Nasr said that as an alternative plan, the legislature should be increased by 14 seats, to be set aside for representatives of the diaspora.

He added that a draft law he had authored to allow people of Lebanese descent to apply for Lebanese citizenship was “still in the drawers of Parliament and the Cabinet.”

He also lamented the fact that an international representative body of the diaspora “was divided into three different groups,” while a plan to issue a special electoral card was on hold.

“In short, we have done nothing for diaspora Lebanese,” Abi Nasr said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea similarly accused the Foreign Ministry Thursday of neglecting its responsibilities, describing its behavior toward expatriates as bordering on “treason” and calling on Lebanese living abroad to go to their embassies and demand their right to vote.

An expat absentee vote in the 2013 parliamentary polls was also discussed Wednesday by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai and a delegation of diaspora representatives.