Lebanon casts vote in grip of an economic meltdown

BEIRUT, May 15, (AP): Lebanese voted for a new parliament Sunday against the backdrop of an economic meltdown that is transforming the country and low expectations that the election would significantly alter the political landscape.

A new crop of candidates from the 2019 protest movement are running against the country’s entrenched ruling class that is blamed for the collapse, hoping to unseat them. But they are divided and lack the money, experience and other advantages held by traditional political rulers with a decadeslong grip on power.

People began casting their ballots shortly after the polls opened under the watchful eye of security forces that have fanned out across the country. Sunday’s vote is the first since Lebanon’s implosion started in October 2019, triggering widespread anti-government protests.

It is also the first election since the massive August 2020 explosion at Beirut’s port that killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and destroyed parts of Lebanon’s capital. The blast, widely blamed on negligence, was set off by hundreds of tons of poorly stored ammonium nitrate that ignited in a port warehouse after a fire broke out at the facility.

Sunday’s voting is seen as a last chance to reverse course and punish the current crop of politicians, most of whom derive their power from Lebanon’s sectarian political system and spoils taken at the end of its 15-year civil war in 1990. But expectations for real change were low amid skepticism and widespread resignation that the vote was sure to bring back the same powerful political parties.

“I did what I can do and I know the situation will not change 180 degrees,” said Rabah Abbas, 74, after casting his ballot in Beirut. He fears the vote is only symbolic and that Lebanon will be stuck again in post-election political bickering over the formation of a new government and electing a new president in October.

“We will hit a wall again. Lebanon is a hopeless case,” he said, echoing common sentiment. Polls close at 7 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) and official results were expected Monday.

The extent of Lebanon’s collapse was on full display Sunday. In the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon’s most impoverished city, several polling stations were without electricity and voters had to climb several flights of stairs to cast their ballots. Voters were seen using the light from

their mobile phones to check names and lists before casting their ballot.

Mirvat Dimashkieh, 55, a housewife, said she is voting for change and for the “new faces” running, adding that longtime politicians should step aside.

“They should give a chance to others. Enough theft,” she said.

Mainstream political parties and politicians remained strong going into the vote, while opposition figures and civil society activists hoping to unseat them are fractured. Lebanese parties have long relied on a system that encourages voters to cast ballots in return for favors and individual benefits.

Money flowed, with political parties offering cash bribes, sandwiches, transportation and other favors to voters.

Since the meltdown began, tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs, the Lebanese pound has shed most more than 90% of its value and many have left the country seeking opportunities abroad. Three quarters of the country’s 6 million people, including 1 million Syrian refugees, now live in poverty. The World Bank has described Lebanon’s collapse as one of the world’s worst in the past 150 years.

Some 718 candidates on 103 lists are running

for seats in the 128-member parliament. The vote is held once every four years. In 2018, voters gave the powerful Hezbollah and its allies the majority with 71 seats.

Lebanon has more than 3.5 million eligible voters, many of whom will cast their ballots in its 15 electoral districts.

Western-backed mainstream parties are hoping to strip the parliamentary majority from Hezbollah, while many independents are hoping to break through traditional party lists and candidates.

Reflecting the tensions, fistfights broke out between Hezbollah supporters and those of the Saudi-backed Christian Lebanese Forces party, which has been among the most vocal critics of the Iran-armed group.

The Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections said its delegates were forced to withdraw from two polling stations following threats by Hezbollah supporters and their allies of the Shiite Amal group.

The vote this year comes as the main Sunni political leader, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, suspended his work in politics and called for a Sunni boycott. Some have warned this may help Hezbollah’s Sunni allies to win more seats.