Lebanon: Hezbollah bloc loses majority in parliament

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Posters featuring Hezbollah leader Nasrallah

Photo: Bilal Hussein / dpa

The Shia Hezbollah party and its allies have lost their majority in Lebanon's parliament.

According to the preliminary final result from Tuesday, they only come to 62 out of 128 MPs.

Representatives of the opposition protest movement won 13 seats - significantly more than expected.

Their goal is to break the power monopoly of the parties that have ruled the Mediterranean country for decades (read an analysis here).

Closely allied with Iran, Hezbollah is the most influential political force in Lebanon.

Her power rests, among other things, on her own militia, with which she controls entire areas, including the border with her arch-enemy Israel.

In the parliamentary elections on Sunday, Hezbollah itself was able to roughly hold its seats.

However, several of their partners lost mandates.

In the 2018 vote, the Hezbollah bloc still had 71 MPs.

The party of former Christian militia commander Samir Geagea, one of Hezbollah's harshest critics, also gained ground.

It now claims to be the strongest Christian force in the multi-denominational country.

Lebanon is suffering from the worst economic and financial crisis in its history.

According to the UN, three quarters of the population now live below the poverty line.

It was the first parliamentary election since the explosion in the port of the capital Beirut in August 2020. More than 190 people died at the time.

Lebanon's political system has long shared power among religious communities and consolidated a ruling elite.

The President is traditionally a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim and the Speaker of Parliament a Shiite.

This system reduces electoral opportunities for non-religious parties and representatives of civil society.

as /dpa/AFP