LEBANESE RALLY LATE TO CAST THEIR BALLOTS

But turnout in first parliamentary elections since 2009 still under 50%

Frantic, last-minute calls from leaders across the Lebanese political spectrum appeared to energise voter turnout yesterday from strikingly low levels to almost 50 per cent.

The parliamentary election – the country’s first since 2009 – was initially marked by a lukewarm turnout, with early government estimates reporting less than a quarter of those registered had voted by mid-afternoon.

Five hours before voting closed, the Interior Ministry reported just 24.47 per cent had cast their votes, alarming Lebanon’s political elite.

That low number pushed the country’s President, Maronite Christian Michel Aoun, 84, to deliver a televised address in which he urged the disillusioned electorate to head to the polls.

Mr Aoun said he was “surprised with the low turnout” ahead of the dramatic increase later on.

“If you are there, then of course the time will be extended so you can all vote”, he said.

But an hour before voting closed at 7pm local time, the Lebanese government reported nationwide turnout to be 46.88 per cent, still a noticeably lower figure than the 54 per cent reported in the last election held nine years ago.

Results for more than 500 candidates running for 128 seats in the Lebanese National Assembly are expected to be delivered today at the earliest.

To allow more citizens to vote, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, Naim Qassem, had talks with Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk about the possibility of keeping ballot boxes open past the deadline.

“We suggest voting be extended for two hours,” Mr Qassem said.

Extensions were given to those who were already waiting at voting centres when the clock hit 7pm. Officials said a slow voting process had stopped many voting on time.

Ahmad Hariri, secretary general of Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Future Movement, called on voters to protect “all of Lebanon”.

“No one should underestimate the importance of their vote or think that heading down to the ballot box is too much to ask,” Ahmad Hariri said.

Voting in Beirut districts was between 30 and 40 per cent, lower than the latest national toll, the country’s National News Agency reported.

Observers said before the election that the country’s young were weary of a political elite under the shadow of corruption charges, which has left voters with no viable alternatives.

And the new proportional voting system confused some of the electorate.

The late rally may lessen the spotlight on voter apathy, but the calls demonstrated the fears of politicians – be they Shiite, Sunni, Christian or Druze – that voter numbers would fall embarrassingly short and open them up to losses against independent candidates.

“In the last quarter of the hour, we have to raise the voter turnout to the maximum,” Druze chief Walid Jumblatt tweeted.

Lebanon has long served as a battlefield for influence between Iran and Saudi Arabia, who have supported Shiite group Hezbollah and Sunni leader Mr Hariri, respectively.

Alate drive for votes from Lebanese politicians yesterday in the first parliamentary elections for almost a decade appeared to mask what was initially interpreted as voter apathy in a country long beset by corruption, political stalemate and economic stagnation.

A mid-afternoon turnout poll of 24 per cent across the country rose dramatically by 6pm local time after Lebanese officials took to social media and even television to appeal to the electorate to vote.

But the latest turnout count of 46.88 per cent of registered voters remains lower than the 54 per cent who cast their ballots in the last election in 2009, suggesting that even though the election has been postponed twice since then, voters are no more eager to participate in the country’s democratic process.

Voters and observers at subdued polling stations across Beirut put forward a familiar list of reasons for the lower turnout. Foremost among them: disenfranchisement and a lack of faith in the electoral system to effect positive change.

“The people who told me they don’t care are more than the people who said they want to vote”, said Tala Turk, 24, a project manager monitoring the elections in the Beirut suburb of Bir Hassan.

Many of Ms Turk’s friends lacked faith that voting could lead to change to an entrenched status quo, she said.

“They have the power to change things but they don’t believe it.”

Abeer Knio, also 24, said that the Lebanese had been “brainwashed” into believing change was impossible.

Ms Knio listed many of the same issues that most Lebanese do when speaking about the country’s problems: failing infrastructure, economic woes and a lack of basic services.

“Look at the trash in the streets,” she said, gesturing to refuse outside the polling station, which now included empty lunch boxes that had been handed out by political parties.

Ms Knio said legacy and tradition had become more important than electing qualified candidates.

“People feel they have to be supportive of our sect and we have to stick to our families’ political views,” she said.

The lower turnout was a problem that not even Lebanon’s most well-oiled political machines appeared to have beaten.

At one polling station in Bourj Al Barajneh, 210 of 609 voters registered had cast their votes by mid-afternoon.

Bourj Al Barajneh is part of Beirut’s southern suburbs, the main base of support for Hezbollah, the militia and political party renowned even outside of Lebanon for its organising abilities.

The station was so quiet that a half dozen election observers from different parties were able to sit down to share a cordial lunch.

Nadia Shaarawi, the manager of the polling station, laughed when they were asked who was ahead in the polls.

“We are,” said the observer representing Hezbollah.

“They’re better at getting their people to the polls”, an observer with one of the other parties agreed.

But Ms Shaarawi, pointed out that young people had largely stayed away.

“The young people don’t want to vote,” she said. “I know from my nieces and nephews, they are not happy with any politicians.”

For many young Lebanese, leaving the country is search of work is a best-case scenario.

“There are no jobs,” said Jalal Abu Khary, 23, a TV and radio student. “I am in my second year at university and I believe that when I graduate I won’t have a job.

“Other countries pay their students to study overseas and bring back experience. I would like to be able to do this.”

As the closing of polls neared in predominantly Christian East Beirut, Michel Chakar was resigned to being disappointed.

“We’ve been calling people for the past two months,” said the volunteer from Kollouna Watani, an electoral alliance that has distinguished itself in Lebanon by refusing to identify with any of the country’s sects.

Inside a polling station around the corner, an observer from one of the political parties offered a frank opinion of what had happened.

“They’re tired of all the bull,” he said.

None of the other six observers in the room disagreed with him. A couple nodded.

People feel they have to be supportive of our sect and we have to stick to our families’ political views

ABEER KNIO Polls monitor