THEY WAITED 9 LONG YEARS FOR THIS DAY
outcome unlikely to upset the existing balance of power among parties
A supporter of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri takes a selfie with him after he voted in Lebanon’s parliamentary elections, outside a ballot station, in Beirut on Sunday. Lebanon’s polling stations opened for the first parliamentary elections in nine years.
Voters queued at polling stations across Lebanon on Sunday to take part in its first general election in nine years — an event seen as important for economic stability but unlikely to upset the overall balance of power.
Cars and mopeds were decked out with the flags of the main parties, loudspeakers blared songs in support of candidates near their electoral strongholds and young people wore T-shirts bearing the faces of political leaders.
The election is being held under a new proportional system that has confused some voters and made the contest unpredictable in formerly safe seats, but still preserves the country’s sectarian powersharing system.
Whatever the result, another coalition government including most of the major parties, like the one that has governed since 2016, is likely to be formed after the election, analysts have said.
Getting the new government in place quickly is important to reassure investors of Lebanon’s economic stability. It has one of the world’s highest debt-to-GDP ratios and the International Monetary Fund has warned its fiscal trajectory is unsustainable .
“We hope we will open a new era,” said Mahmoud Daouk, voting in Beirut.
But some other voters were sceptical the election signalled an improvement in Lebanon’s political climate.
“The situation is actually worse now, not better ... we lost the chance to hold them accountable nine years ago,” said Fatima Kibbi, 33, a pharmacist.
In some places queues to vote were so long that people waited over an hour, prompting calls to extend voting beyond 7pm (1600 GMT). Nearly a quarter of voters had cast ballots across the country by 2pm the Interior Ministry said.
Informal results are expected to start coming in overnight and official tallies in the coming days. Election law makes it illegal to publish forecasts of how the parties will perform before polls close.
However, analysts are closely watching the performance of Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri’s Future Movement party and that of the Iran-backed, Hezbollah group and its allies.
The main parties focus on getting the economy back on track and grappling with the Syrian refugee crisis.
Donors pledged $11 billion in soft loans for a capital investment programme last month, in return for fiscal and other reforms, and they hope to hold the first followup meeting with the new government in the coming weeks.
Debt ratings agencies had stressed the importance of Lebanon going ahead with the election after parliament had extended its term several times.
After the last election in 2009, the onset of Syria’s civil war, the arrival of over a million refugees and a series of militant attacks aggravated internal political rifts.
We want the situation to stay as it is ... At least we know the current lawmakers Mustapha Muzawwaq, A voter in Beirut
Rival blocs in parliament could not agree on a new president between 2014-16 and repeatedly decided to delay elections, partly because of disagreement over moving from a winner-takes-all to a proportional voting system.
The new rules are seen as unlikely to undermine the long-entrenched political elite, a group that includes local dynasties and former warlords.
Mustapha Muzawwaq, 65, was sitting with neighbours in a side street drinking coffee. “We want the situation to stay as it is ... At least we know the current MPs,”
It’s (election) the beginning of a long and difficult road towards change. Jonathan Dagher, A Lebanese citizen Saad Hariri Prime Minister (Lebanon) when we see what is happening in countries around us and lebanon is having elections, this shows that the situation in lebanon is good. every lebanese citizen must vote to perform their national duty and vote for whomever they want. i would like to thank all those responsible for the electoral process.
he said. In municipal elections two years ago, independent candidates did well against established political parties by drawing on public anger at poor government services, including a crisis in which mountains of garbage piled in the streets. Jonathan Dagher, 27, a campaigner for an independent candidate in the Chouf-Aley district of Mount Lebanon, said he was optimistic. “It’s the beginning of a long and difficult road towards change,” he said. Parliament seats are divided evenly between Muslims and Christians, and further subdivided among their various sects. Lebanon’s president must always be Maronite Christian, the prime minister Sunni and the parliament speaker Shia. Voters are registered not where they live, but in the district their ancestors came from, meaning large numbers of voters have to travel from the capital, Beirut, to villages across the country. “Voting should be made as easy as possible,” said Raja Riachi, the founder of a gaming startup, who drove for an hour from his home in Beirut to vote in the village of Khenchara.
Despite some acts of violence connected to the election, no major incidents were reported immediately before the voting or during the first hours after polls opened.
However, there was a security presence in Beirut on Sunday and a Reuters witness saw a long military column of armoured vehicles driving into the capital. —