By Ben Hubbard — NewYork times — nytimes — BEIRUT, Lebanon — Voters in Lebanon deprived the Hezbollah militant group and its …

by news.middleeast-24.com — The former US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, David Schenker, confirmed that “the Free Patriotic Movement …

BEIRUT, (Reuters) - Iran-backed Hezbollah and its allies are likely to lose their majority in Lebanon's parliament, three sources allied to the group said on Monday, in a major blow to the heavily armed faction that reflected widespread anger at ruling parties. Sunday's election - the first since Lebanon's financial collapse and the Beirut port blast of 2020 - also produced wins for the Saudi-aligned Lebanese Forces (LF), a Christian party, and reform-minded candidates across sects. Their breakthroughs, however, could fracture parliament into several camps and polarise it more sharply between Hezbollah's allies and opponents. Those opponents are not currently united into a single bloc. The deadlock could derail reforms required to unlock support from the International Monetary Fund to ease Lebanon's economic crisis and delay parliamentary decisions on a speaker, a premier to form a Cabinet, and a new president later this year.

Preliminary results indicate a reversal of Lebanon's last election in 2018, when Hezbollah and its allies won 71 of parliament's 128 seats, pulling Lebanon deeper into the orbit of Shi'ite-led Iran and away from Sunni-led Saudi Arabia. Sunday's result could open the door for Riyadh to exercise greater sway in Beirut, long an arena of its rivalry with Tehran. There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia, but Iran on Monday said it respected the vote and had never intervened in Lebanon's internal affairs. The United States, which has imposed sanctions on Hezbollah, welcomed the elections and encouraged politicians to recommit to economic reforms.

'NATIONAL CELEBRATION'

interior Minister - Bassam Mawlawi

NNA - Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Judge Bassam Mawlawi, announced on Monday evening the winners in some districts in Lebanon’s 2022 parliamentary elections, pending the results of the remaining districts. “Despite all the difficulties and skepticism, we were able to hold elections successfully,” Mawlawi said. “All the skepticism campaigns that accompanied the sorting of results did not affect our work, nor that of officials and judges, who worked day and night to carry out their patriotic duty, to contribute to the salvation of the country, and to issue the results,” he said. “The voting rates are not low but rather good, and they are almost similar or slightly lower than the percentages of previous elections,” Mawlawi added. Mawlawi announced the legislative elections’ vote count results as follows:

Winners in South II: Nabih Berri, Hussein Jashi, Ali Khreis, Inaya Ezzedine, Ali Oseiran, and Michel Moussa.

Winners in South I: Abdel Rahman Al-Bizri, Osama Saad, Saeed Al-Asmar, Charbel Massaad, and Ghada Ayoub.

Winners in Mount Lebanon I: Ziad Al-Hawat, Raed Berro, Nada Al-Bustani, Neemat Frem, Shawki Daccache, Farid el Khazen, Simon Abi Ramia, and Salim Al-Sayegh.

Winners in Bekaa I: Ramy Abu Hamdan, George Okeis, Michel Daher, Elias Stephan, Salim Aoun, Bilal Al-Hashimi, and George Bushkian.

Winners in Bekaa II: Qabalan Qabalan, Wael Abu Faour, Hassan Murad, Yassin Yassin, Charbel Maroun, and Ghassan Skaf.

Winners in Mount Lebanon III: Ali Ammar, Pierre Bou Assi, Hadi Abu Al-Hassan, Alain Aoun, Fadi Alama, and Camille Chamoun.

Winners in Bekaa III: Antoine Habshi, Hussein Hajj Hassan, Ghazi Zaiter, Ihab Hamadeh, Ali Miqdad, Ibrahim Al-Moussawi, Antoine Habashi, Jamil Al-Sayyed, Samer Al-Toum, Yanal Muhammad Solh, and Melhem Muhammad Al-Hujairi.