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By Nayla Assaf
Daily Star staff
Monday, June 20, 2005
BEIRUT: Lebanon's anti-Syrian opposition
looked set to win outright control of
Parliament last night in the decisive final
round of the country's first elections free of
Syrian control in almost 30 years. Early
indications from
North Lebanon
showed the united list of Saad Hariri, the son
of murdered former Premier Rafik Hariri, had
won enough seats to secure a majority in
Parliament for his united opposition grouping.
Leading opposition politician Boutros Harb
said: "According to incomplete results, we are
heading for a total victory."
The anti-Syrian opposition needed to secure at
least 21 of the 28 seats up for grabs in
yesterday's poll to have a parliamentary
majority. But it remains unclear whether the
opposition will have the two-thirds majority
required to end to the term of Lebanon's
pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, who still
has a further two years in office after a
controversial Damascus-inspired extension last
September which was the catalyst for the
uniting the country's opposition groupings.
The coalition had already won 44 seats in
Lebanon's 128-member Parliament in previous
rounds since the election process began on May
29.
Like last week's polls,
North Lebanon was the scene of a close battle
between the opposition coalition and maverick
Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun,
who refused to join the opposition alliance.
Having won 21 seats in earlier previous
rounds, Aoun had threatened to upset the
Hariri list's ambition to take sole control of
the long Syrian-dominated Parliament.
In a vitriolic campaign, both sides repeatedly
attacked each other's anti-Syrian credentials.
The last round of elections was also marred by
allegations of corruption, after Aoun accused
Hariri of using his father's
multi-billion-dollar fortune to buy votes.
Many on Aoun's list also accused Hariri of
rousing sectarianism by indirectly appealing
to the North's slight Muslim majority to vote
in high numbers for his lists.
Turnout in
North Lebanon was estimated at a relatively
high 49 percent and as high as 90 percent in
some villages.
Hariri's list includes the Lebanese Forces and
the Christian opposition Qornet Shehwan
Gathering, and it is from these parties that
Lebanon's
next government will likely be formed.
Aoun is also staunchly anti-Syrian but allied
with prominent pro-Syrian figures to fight the
elections after his failure to join forces
with the rest of the opposition last month.
His list, which included pro-Syrian symbol
Suleiman Franjieh, was also backed by
pro-Damascus former Premier Omar Karami. It
also received last-minute backing from the
Syrian Social National Party, which was
fielding an independent candidate in the
North.
Aoun defended his alliances. He said: "I am
the only politician in this country who didn't
collaborate with the Syrians."
Although Hariri's killing played a large part
in uniting
the Lebanese political opposition, the unity
proved to be short lived during the run-up to
the elections and religious allegiances took
over.
Premier Najib Mikati. as he cast his vote in
Tripoli, responded to the opposition's
allegations of Syrian pressure on voters by
saying: "There has been no intervention by
Syria to influence voters. There are no Syrian
agents at work."
European legislator Jose Ignacio Salafranca
said he took note of allegations of vote
buying. He added: "Competition is high, which
is a healthy sign."
About 680,000 people were eligible to vote on
Sunday. Voters were divided into two
districts, represented by 11 MPs and
comprising the areas of Akkar, Dinnieh and
Bsharri, and the second district,
Tripoli, Minieh, Zghorta, Batroun and Koura,
by 17 MPs.
Aoun's bloc held 23 seats, while Hizbullah and
the Amal movement grabbed 35 seats. |
