Hezbollah dominates the south but opposition holds out hope at polls
In the town of Bint Jbeil, 110 kilometres south of Beirut, songs praising Hezbollah and its ally Amal blared from cars as a motorcade wound its way through the streets.
The display reflected the parties’ confidence that they would keep a grip on their southern stronghold.
Throughout Sunday, Hezbollah supporters waved the Shiite movement’s yellow and green flags as they went to vote in the parliamentary election.
Women draped party flags over their shoulders, while men wrapped the colours around their wrists.
“Our chance of success is more than 100 per cent,” Hezbollah delegate Mohammad El Arab said at a polling station in Saksakiyeh, a village near the southern coastal town of Saida, or Sidon.
Of 24 party observers there, the vast majority belonged to Amal or Hezbollah.
Representatives of the opposition, which has hopes of winning a handful of seats and capitalising on public anger at the national elite’s perceived corruption, were barely visible.
We are at the mercy of ruling parties in areas where we have no delegates. We are not on neutral ground
ALI MOURAD
Election candidate
Unlike Mr El Arab, who wore a yellow jacket and hat, the independent list’s two representatives wore no distinctive clothing.
In 2019, Lebanon was pushed into its worst economic crisis after decades of financial mismanagement by the country’s leadership.
All the Lebanese voters The National spoke to in Saksakiyeh said they hoped for change but disagreed about what that would mean.
Nader, 24, a first-time voter, said he had cast his ballot for the district’s opposition list, which includes independent figures from civil society.
“It can only get better or worse,” he said.
He went to vote with two friends, one of whom wore an Amal wristband.
“We disagree politically, but at least we can discuss our
views, unlike the older generation,” Nader said.
Another first-time voter, Nancy Wehbeh, 25, said she did not know much about the opposition list.
“We only have trust in Hezbollah and Amal because they fight corruption in Lebanon,” Ms Wehbeh said.
Hezbollah is classified as a terrorist organisation by several western countries. The Iran-backed group has had representatives in the Lebanese government since 2005.
The election’s low turnout, at about 37 per cent nationally as of 6.30pm local time on Sunday, left opposition figures in south Lebanon unsure if they will see a candidate in parliament. If they do, for some it will be a first.
“We don’t know whether it is traditional party supporters who boycotted the vote or if people from all sides have abstained,” candidate Ali Mourad, from the southern village of Aitaroun, told The National.
“It’s clear that Hezbollah and Amal have the ability to assert themselves in public. That’s a pressure tactic.”
In Bint Jbeil’s government building, where counting took place, judicial sources said they did not expect to finish quickly.
Counting started at about 8.30pm on Sunday, when officials received ballot boxes containing votes from Lebanese citizens voting overseas. They were cast on Friday and Sunday and had been stored at the central bank in Beirut.
All the ballot boxes were expected to be transferred to a higher registration committee, which verifies polling reports and then sends the final results over to the Interior Ministry.
The minister was expected to give official results by today at the latest.
Inside the building in Bint Jbeil, the mood was quiet.
“Voting in this region has been one of the calmest in Lebanon,” said Charbel Al Alem, head of the subdistrict.
Many civil servants counting ballots came from the Justice Ministry. They said they were paid $100 for election work.
The Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections said it documented hundreds of offences throughout Sunday, but nothing in Bint Jbeil.
Mr Mourad, who attended the count in the town, said he feared more rule breaches would come to light in the hours that followed.
“We are at the mercy of ruling parties in areas where we have no delegates,” he said. “We are not on neutral ground.”