Voting turnout at 6 p.m. stood at 46.88 percent: Interior Ministry
by middleeastmonitor.com — Voters queued outside polling stations across Lebanon on Sunday for the chance to take part in its first general election in nine years – an event seen as important for economic stability but unlikely to upset the overall balance of power. Cars and mopeds were decked out with the flags of the main parties, loudspeakers blared songs in support of candidates near their electoral strongholds and young people wore T-shirts bearing the faces of political leaders. The election is being held under a new proportional system that has confused some voters and made the contest unpredictable in formerly safe seats, but still preserves the country’s sectarian power sharing system. Whatever the result, another coalition government including most of the major parties, like that which has governed since 2016, is likely to be formed after the election, analysts have said.
Getting the new government in place quickly would reassure investors of Lebanon’s economic stability. It has one of the world’s highest debt-to-GDP ratios and the International Monetary Fund has warned its fiscal trajectory is unsustainable. “We hope we will open a new era,” said Mahmoud Daouk, voting in Beirut. But some other voters were sceptical the election signalled an improvement in Lebanon’s political climate. “The situation is actually worse now, not better… we lost the chance to hold them accountable nine years ago,” said Fatima Kibbi, 33, a pharmacist. Voting is scheduled to end at 7 p.m. (1600 GMT). Unofficial results are expected to start coming in overnight. Election law makes it illegal on Sunday to publish forecasts of how the parties will perform before polls close. However, analysts are closely watching the performance of Sunni Muslim Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri’s Future Movement party and that of the Iran-backed, Shia Hezbollah group and its allies.
Lebanon has periodically been an arena for the intense regional competition between Iran and Saudi Arabia. However, in recent years, Riyadh has pulled back from its previous support for Hariri, backing that helped Future in 2009 when it was part of the ‘March 14’ coalition focused on making Hezbollah give up its massive arsenal. That issue has been quietly shelved as the main parties have focused on getting the economy back on track and grappling with the Syrian refugee crisis. Donors pledged $11 billion in soft loans for a capital investment programme last month, in return for fiscal and other reforms, and they hope to hold the first follow-up meeting with the new government in the coming weeks. Debt ratings agencies had stressed the importance of Lebanon going ahead with the election after parliament had extended its term several times.
Minor Clashes, Violations Mar Electoral Process
Naharnet — Minor clashes and violations marred the electoral process on Sunday, as Lebanon voted in its first parliamentary elections in nine years. In south Lebanon’s third district, a stronghold of Hizbullah and AMAL Movement, a woman candidate from the newly-formed Sabaa Party — part of the Kollona Watani civil society coalition — was “assaulted, beaten up and threatened with a sharp object,” Sabaa said. MTV meanwhile said a clash erupted in a polling station in Zgharta’s Miryata in the presence of Minister Pierre Raffoul of the Free Patriotic Movement. Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) said Raffoul’s bodyguards “assaulted and insulted Jessie Douaihi, the daughter of the candidate Michel Doueihi, inside a polling station in Miryata.”
In the Jbeil district, “a minor dispute erupted in Ehmej between supporters of the candidates Ziad Hawat and Simon Abi Ramia but was quickly contained,” Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said. The army meanwhile contained a brawl that erupted in Baalbek against the backdrop of a party flag brought inside one of the polling stations, the radio station said. In Zahle, security forces contained a dispute that erupted between al-Mustaqbal Movement and Lebanese Forces supporters, the radio station added. Meanwhile in Beirut, security forces contained a clash that erupted at a polling station in the Omar Farroukh high school in Tariq al-Jedideh. The Aley town of Btater had in the morning witnessed a clash outside a polling station between supporters of the Progressive Socialist Party and the Lebanese Democratic Party. In Beirut’s first electoral district – Ashrafieh, Rmeil, Saifi and Medawar – the Kollona Watani coalition said its representatives were expelled from polling stations under the excuse that their permits had been issued under the name of the list and not its individual candidates. The coalition urged authorities to intervene quickly to resolve the issue. Amid a heated battle in Zahle, several clashes erupted between supporters of the Lebanese Forces and MP Nicolas Fattoush. “One of Fattoush’s electoral offices was attacked after he was accused of bribing voters,” media reports said. In Bsharri, the FPM filed an urgent complaint with the Interior Ministry against acting Bsharri District Officer Ruba Shafshaq, accusing her of “strong bias in favor of the LF” and depriving the FPM’s representatives of permits to enter polling stations. And in Beirut’s second electoral district, representatives of certain parties were caught taking pictures during the voting process.
