Ailing Lebanon votes for parliament, but big shift unlikely
BEIRUT — When Lebanon’s economic collapse accelerated six months ago, Abdul-Hamid Yamout lost his job at Beirut’s international airport — and with it all sense of security.
Since then, he’s struggled to provide for his family, worrying constantly about the future of his two children. On Sunday, he planned to use the ballot box to punish the ruling class by voting for a list of independents.
“I will give them my vote because they want change,” he said, recalling his participation in nationwide protests against government corruption in 2019.
Yamout, 39, who now sews curtains in order to survive, was among those voting for a new parliament Sunday, hoping to unseat the entrenched politicians they blame for the crisis.
A new crop of candidates from the protest movement are running against them, hoping to at least score a breakthrough by picking up a few seats. But they are divided and lack the money, experience and other advantages held by traditional political rulers.
The vote is taking place against the back drop of an economic meltdown that is rapidly transforming the country, triggering the biggest wave of emigration since its 15-year civil war ended in 1990.
“There are no jobs, they blew us up at the port, I can’t find baby formula for my children and cannot treat my elderly parents,” Yamout cried, in reference to a massive explosion at the Beirut port in August 2020 that levelled the city.
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 port explosion 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.
For many, it is seen as a chance to 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 were low that it would significantly alter the political landscape, amid widespread resignation that the system was rigged to bring back the same powerful political parties.
Turnout appeared to be low by early afternoon, at around 27 percent.
The election, the first since 2018, is also being closely watched to see whether the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah and its allies can preserve their parliamentary majority amid rising poverty and hardship.
“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.
Polls close at 7 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) and official results are expected on today.