By naharnet

The second round of the municipal elections was held
Sunday in the Mount Lebanon district, amid claims of vote buying in the
Keserouan region and security incidents in several areas.

The elections covered 325 municipalities amid heavy
security measures that were taken by the security forces and the army.
The polls were held in the main electoral districts of Baabda, Jbeil,
Keserouan, Aley, Chouf, and Metn.

The lists backed by the Khazen’s  headed by Ziad Chalfoun in Ghosta and n headed by Cheikh Clovis el Khazen in Ajaltoun had decisive wins in the district of Keserouan.

The Interior Ministry said that 45 municipalities had won uncontested. Major battles took place in several towns in light of
the failure of the Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement to strike
an alliance in all regions.

At 6:00 pm, one hour prior to the closure of polls,
voter turnout was 56.5% in Jbeil, 47.2% in Metn, 49.5% in Chouf, 58% in
Keserouan, 50% in Aley and 42% in Baabda, according to the Interior
Ministry.

According to Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq, voter turnout stood at 56 percent in the entire governorate.

“Six people were arrested – five over electoral bribery
and the head of a polling station,” Mashnouq announced at a press
conference after the polls.

The first results emerged from the Baabda district town
of Hadath, where the Free Patriotic Movement boasted that it won 70% of
the vote.

In the city of Jbeil, incumbent municipal chief Ziad
Hawat said his list won “more than 90% of the vote” in the face of a
candidate who ran alone in the electoral battle. The candidate, Claude
Marjeh, was nominated by the Citizens in a State secular campaign that
is led by ex-minister Charbel Nahas.

Meanwhile, MP Michel Murr, who is influential in the
Northern Metn region, said the lists that he backed along with the
Kataeb Party had won the municipal polls in Sin el-Fil, Brummana, Beit
Mery and Baabdat.

State-run National News Agency also confirmed that,
according to early results, the list backed by Murr, Kataeb and some
families had won in the face of a list fielded by the FPM and the
Lebanese Forces in Sin el-Fil.

The Murr-Kataeb alliance also won in the majority of towns in Northern Metn, according to unofficial results.

And according to al-Jadeed television, a list backed by
Hizbullah and AMAl Movement was leading by a landslide against a list
formed by families and civil society activists in the Beirut southern
suburb of Bourj al-Barajneh.

The most heated battle occurred in the coastal city of
Jounieh where a list headed by Juan Hbeish and backed by the FPM, Kataeb
Party, al-Waad Party, and National Liberal Party won 14 out of 18 seats
in the municipal council.

The National News Agency identified the four members who
managed to win from the rival list as Fadi Fayyad, Fouad al-Bouwari,
Silvio Shiha and Rodrigue Finianos.

This list was headed by al-Bouwari and backed by
influential ex-MPs Cheikh Farid Haykal el Khazen and Mansour Ghanem al-Bon, the
Lebanese Forces, and the Maronite Foundation in the World.

FPM founder MP Michel Aoun had paid a visit to Jounieh
on Saturday night in an attempt to motivate people to head to the polls
and vote in favor of the list headed by Hbeish.

Change and Reform bloc MP Alain Aoun commented: “It is unfortunate that the LF decided to wage the electoral battle against us.”

During a visit to Jounieh’s serail, Minister al-Mashnouq
said he ordered the ejection of Juan Hbeish from a security meeting
there “seeing as he is a candidate and should not be present in the
meeting.”

Mashnouq also revealed that four people have been
arrested in the Keserouan towns of Yahshoush and Raashin on charges of
paying electoral bribes.

Meanwhile, al-Jadeed television aired a video showing an
apparent supporter of the list backed by the FPM and Kataeb paying $600
to one of its undercover correspondents after she convinced him that
she could provide three votes for the list.

In the Beirut southern suburbs of Ghobeiri, Bourj
al-Barajneh and Haret Hreik — Baabda district strongholds of Hizbullah
and the AMAL Movement — the lists backed by the two parties and the
FPM confronted lists backed by families and the civil society.

And in the coastal town of Choueifat in Aley district a
heated battle occurred between rival lists backed by the Progressive
Socialist Party of MP Walid Jumblat and the Lebanese Democratic Party of
MP Talal Arslan.

MTV also spoke of a heated battle in al-Damour region
south of Beirut, saying some 10,000 voters were registered in the area
and that the turnout could reach 40 or 50 percent.

As for security, the Internal Security Forces said
fifteen incidents had been recorded until the afternoon, resulting in
the injury of at least five people.

Electoral brawls outside polling stations forced a
temporary suspension of the electoral process in Naameh, Haret
al-Naameh, Afqa, al-Laqlouq, Shbaniyeh and Tartej.

According to the interior minister, the ministry’s
Central Operations Center “replaced the head of the polling station in
Jbeil’s Tartej after three ballots were found in his pocket.”

Later in the day, Mashnouq inspected polling stations in
the Beirut southern suburb of Ghobeiri, which is part of the Baabda
district.

“The municipal polls are excellent in all regions and
there are no significant security problems but rather democratic and
normal competition,” Mashnouq said.

“Lebanon currently needs a president, not parliamentary elections,” he added, in response to a question.

Fistfights also erupted outside polling stations in
Jbeil and Dahieh as a verbal dispute was recorded outside a Jbeil
polling station between supporters of ex-minister Charbel Nahas and
others who back the list headed by Ziad Hawat.

Later in the day, a woman from the Shamas family was
injured in an armed clash in the Jbeil town of Mishan and the electoral
process was suspended, which prompted the intervention of the army’s
Airborne Regiment.

Inside polling stations, two disputes were recorded in Jbeil, one in Metn, one in Chouf and two in Keserouan.

The Interior Ministry announced that citizens can contact the 1766 hotline to file any complaint linked to the polls.

The first round of the municipal polls were held in
Beirut and the Bekaa region on May 8, while the third round, set for
next Sunday, will be held in the South and Nabatiyeh, and the fourth and
final round will be held in the North and Akkar on May 29.

M.T./Y.R.