BEIRUT, May 30: Candidates led by the son of slain former prime minister Rafik al Hariri have won all the seats in Beirut polls, but turnout was low in Lebanon’s first parliamentary election in three decades.
“The count is nearly over and it’s a landslide for Hariri’s list,” said a government source. Beirut was the first region to go to the polls on Sunday. Other regions vote over the next three Sundays in elections set to redraw Lebanon’s political map.
Among the major challenges facing the new parliament is redefining ties with Syria on a more balanced basis. The vote follows two political earthquakes in Lebanon – Mr Hariri’s killing in a bomb blast many Lebanese blamed on Damascus, and the end of Syria’s 29-year troop presence.
Saad al Hariri’s anti-Syrian bloc had already won nine of the capital’s 19 seats in the 128-member parliament before the vote because they were not contested. The source said candidates on Mr Hariri’s list had taken the remaining 10 seats.
“This victory is for Rafik al Hariri. Today Beirut showed its loyalty to Rafik al Hariri,” Saad Hariri, 35, told a crowd celebrating outside his villa in the capital. “Today is a victory for democracy ... freedom and sovereignty.”
Interior Minister Hassan al Sabaa put turnout at 28 per cent. The capital had a 34 per cent turnout in 2000.
Thousands of jubilant supporters drove through the streets, honking car horns and flying Lebanese flags as fireworks lit the night sky over Beirut’s centre, rebuilt by the slain Hariri from the ruins of the 1975-1990 civil war.—Reuters
