Elections in Lebanon: Hezbollah suffered a blow in parliament, according to preliminary results
According to sources, Hiballah has lost its majority in parliament.
Final results will be published later today.
According to commentators, the results could open the door to Sunni Saudi Arabia and its greater impact in a country plunged into a severe economic crisis
Reuters
16/05/2022
Monday, 16 May 2022, 12:28 Updated: 15:11
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In the video: People's celebrations on Election Day for the Lebanese Parliament (Photo: Reuters)
Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, suffered a blow in the parliamentary elections yesterday (Sunday), when its allies recorded losses - while the Saudi-affiliated Lebanese Forces party recorded significant achievements, according to preliminary results.
The vote count is still in progress.
Hezbollah and its allies won in 2018 71 seats out of 128 seats in parliament.
The official results have not yet been announced in the first parliamentary elections since 2019, when Lebanon sank into one of the most severe economic crises in the world.
The results so far reflect the deep split in parliament between the Allies and Hezbollah opponents, which may, according to commentators, lead to stalemate as various factions try to formulate a coalition agreement.
"If past agreements are dead, what politics will we have other than ethnic tension and a replay of the conflicts we have already experienced?"
Muhammad Haj Ali wondered at the Carnegie Middle East Research Center.
He said that while the 2018 elections dragged Lebanon in the direction of Muslim Shiite Iran, the results could now open the door to Sunni Saudi Arabia and its greater influence in a country where its great enemy - Tehran - dominates, he added.
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One surprising result is that Druze politician Talal Arslan, an ally of Hezbollah and a descendant of one of Lebanon's oldest political dynasties first elected in 1992, lost his seat to Mark Dao, a new candidate vying for a platform of reforms, according to a senior Hezbollah figure.
Preliminary results also show victories for at least five independent candidates vying for a vote of reform and placing politicians blamed for leading Lebanon to the worst crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
Saad Hariri speaks in Lebanon, January 24, 2022 (Photo: Reuters)
The achievements of the Lebanese Forces Party (LF), which opposes Hezbollah, mean that the party will bypass the "Free Patriotic Current" (FPM) as the largest Christian party in the Lebanese parliament.
It has now won at least 20 seats, compared to 15 in 2018, said spokeswoman Antoinette Jaja.
The FPM party won 16 seats, compared to 18 in 2018, said Side Younes, the director of e-voting.
The FPM has been the largest Christian party in the Lebanese parliament since its founder, President Michel Aoun, returned from exile in France in 2005.
Aoun and LF founder Samir Jaja were rivals in the Civil War.
LF, which was founded as a military junta during the Civil War, called on Hezbollah to disarm.
"Hezbollah's Christian allies have lost the right to claim that they represent the majority of Christians," Haj Ali said, calling it a "significant blow" to the Shiite organization.
Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal movement of parliament speaker Nabiya Berry, retained control of the Muslim Shiite representation, winning all the seats reserved for their community, according to preliminary numbers.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun at a meeting with Prime Minister Hassan Diab, Speaker of Parliament Nabiya Berry, and Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon Riyadh Salameh at the Presidential Palace in Baaba, March 7, 2020 (Photo: Reuters)
It now remains to be seen whether Hezbollah's allies will win more seats left empty due to the resignation of Sunni politician Saad al-Hariri, mainly in Beirut and northern Lebanon.
The new parliament must elect a speaker - a post Berry has held since 1992 - before appointing a prime minister to form a cabinet.
Later this year, lawmakers are expected to elect a president, replacing Aoun, whose term ends on October 31.
Any delay in the formation of the cabinet - a process that may take months - will also lead to a delay in the reforms required in dealing with the economic crisis.
In southern Lebanon, too, the opposition candidate managed to register a significant achievement in an area controlled by Hezbollah.
Elias Jardi, an ophthalmologist, won the Christian Orthodox seat, formerly held by Assad Harden from the National Socialist Party (SSNP), an ally of Hezbollah and a member of parliament since 1992. "This is a fresh start for the south and all of Lebanon," he told Reuters.
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