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BEIRUT: Saad Hariri, son of slain former Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri, is expected to record
an overwhelming victory in the first polls in
Lebanon in three decades to take place without
the presence of Syrian troops.
The first round of parliamentary elections is set to kick off
on Sunday in
Beirut,
with voting spread regionally across four
consecutive Sundays, ending on June 19.
President Emile Lahoud initiated the long-awaited elections
by signing a decree to hold the polls based on
the highly controversial 2000 electoral law
widely seen as favoring pro-Syrian loyalists.
A 100 strong European Union team of foreign observers will
monitor the Lebanese polls for the first time,
marking a new era for
Lebanon following the assassination of former
Premier Rafik Hariri on February 14.
The elections, due to start just before Parliament's term
expires, may return many of the same faces to
the 128-member Parliament, but Syria will no
longer be the sole arbiter of Lebanese
politics as it had been following the 1975-90
civil war.
Saad Hariri, 35, is sure to top the vote in his Sunni
stronghold of
Beirut,
where his parliamentary Future Movement
candidates have already won nine of the 19
seats at stake following the withdrawal of
their rivals from the race.
Hariri is also expected to field candidates in the North and
east through his wide alliances.
His aides predict his parliamentary Dignity Bloc will win
about 35 seats in Parliament, an unprecedented
achievement for a single grouping in a
Lebanese election.
Minyeh MP Ahmad Fatfat asserted that the Future Movement was
leading the battle of national unity based on
the March 14 intifada independence in an
attempt to preserve the opposition's unity.
But in a statement, Fatfat said he regretted that the
elections had failed to unite the opposition.
"Unfortunately, some members of the opposition
insist on lending a helping hand to members of
the former security system and on forming
joint lists in various districts," he said.
The politically inexperienced Hariri is widely expected to be
a future prime minister, a post traditionally
held by a Sunni, but has not said whether he
would be willing to take up the position
immediately.
He shares the many intimate Saudi connections cultivated by
his father, but lacks the range of
international ties that brought French
President Jacques Chirac and a host of Arab
and foreign politicians to the assassinated
premier's funeral.
Meanwhile, an electoral alliance between the two main Shiite
parties Amal and Hizbullah is likely to
maintain its grip over the Shiite South, which
is scheduled to vote on June 5, as well as
parts of eastern
Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
Six of the South's 23 seats have already gone uncontested to
the Amal-Hizbullah list, including one to
Bahia Hariri, Rafik Hariri's sister.
Hariri said her first task after the election of the new
Parliament will be the endorsement of a fair
electoral law and the implementation of the
Taif Accord, "two issues that require national
consensus."
BEIRUT: Saad Hariri, son of slain former Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri, is expected to record
an overwhelming victory in the first polls in
Lebanon in three decades to take place without
the presence of Syrian troops.
The first round of parliamentary elections is set to kick off
on Sunday in
Beirut,
with voting spread regionally across four
consecutive Sundays, ending on June 19.
President Emile Lahoud initiated the long-awaited elections
by signing a decree to hold the polls based on
the highly controversial 2000 electoral law
widely seen as favoring pro-Syrian loyalists.
A 100 strong European Union team of foreign observers will
monitor the Lebanese polls for the first time,
marking a new era for
Lebanon following the assassination of former
Premier Rafik Hariri on February 14.
The elections, due to start just before Parliament's term
expires, may return many of the same faces to
the 128-member Parliament, but Syria will no
longer be the sole arbiter of Lebanese
politics as it had been following the 1975-90
civil war.
Saad Hariri, 35, is sure to top the vote in his Sunni
stronghold of
Beirut,
where his parliamentary Future Movement
candidates have already won nine of the 19
seats at stake following the withdrawal of
their rivals from the race.
Hariri is also expected to field candidates in the North and
east through his wide alliances.
His aides predict his parliamentary Dignity Bloc will win
about 35 seats in Parliament, an unprecedented
achievement for a single grouping in a
Lebanese election.
Minyeh MP Ahmad Fatfat asserted that the Future Movement was
leading the battle of national unity based on
the March 14 intifada independence in an
attempt to preserve the opposition's unity.
But in a statement, Fatfat said he regretted that the
elections had failed to unite the opposition.
"Unfortunately, some members of the opposition
insist on lending a helping hand to members of
the former security system and on forming
joint lists in various districts," he said.
The politically inexperienced Hariri is widely expected to be
a future prime minister, a post traditionally
held by a Sunni, but has not said whether he
would be willing to take up the position
immediately.
He shares the many intimate Saudi connections cultivated by
his father, but lacks the range of
international ties that brought French
President Jacques Chirac and a host of Arab
and foreign politicians to the assassinated
premier's funeral.
Meanwhile, an electoral alliance between the two main Shiite
parties Amal and Hizbullah is likely to
maintain its grip over the Shiite South, which
is scheduled to vote on June 5, as well as
parts of eastern
Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
Six of the South's 23 seats have already gone uncontested to
the Amal-Hizbullah list, including one to
Bahia Hariri, Rafik Hariri's sister.
Hariri said her first task after the election of the new
Parliament will be the endorsement of a fair
electoral law and the implementation of the
Taif Accord, "two issues that require national
consensus."
Tighter competition is expected in the mainly Druze and
Maronite Christian central district of Mount
Lebanon, as well as in the mixed
Muslim-Christian North and some parts of the
Bekaa.
Former Prime Minister Omar Karami is among several Syrian
allies to quit the race, anticipating defeat.
The loose opposition front that helped topple his government
in February has since split, with Maronite FPM
leader General Michel Aoun failing to forge an
electoral alliance with Hariri, Druze leader
Walid Jumblatt and their Christian allies.
Among the Parliament's first tasks will be to decide whether
to press an opposition demand for the removal
of Syrian-backed President Emile Lahoud.
Any government formed after the polls end will be under
pressure to tackle financial problems worsened
by Hariri's killing and enact reforms demanded
by creditors who have helped
Lebanon cope with its exorbitant debt.
- With
Reuters
By Karine Raad
Daily Star staff
Saturday, May 28, 2005
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