BEIRUT, June 13: Gen Michel Aoun emerged on Monday as Lebanon’s main Christian political force after scoring a stunning win in parliamentary elections only weeks after returning from exile.
Gen Aoun, prominent during Lebanon’s civil war, dealt a major blow to the existing Christian opposition and its hopes of securing strong representation in the new parliament.
The polls, being held over four weekends ending on June 19, are the first for three decades without the presence of Syrian troops and are set to usher in an assembly with an anti-Syrian majority for the first time since the 1975-1990 civil war.
Though staunchly anti-Syrian, since returning from exile Gen Aoun has fallen out with the established opposition forces with which he sided in the drive to force Syria out.
He questions opposition demands for pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud to quit and accuses many of its key figures of corruption and of dealing with the Syrians since the civil war.
Gen Aoun’s supporters say his exile kept him untainted by years of corruption among Lebanese politicians while Syria held sway.
“What does the unity of the opposition mean? It was all hollow,” Gen Aoun told a news conference on Monday. “It had no programme. When we came up with one, they were not willing to discuss it.
“This is a country that should be built on sound foundations, the first of which is combating corruption in the state. But this was what turned everyone against us.”
Official final results on Monday showed candidates backed by Aoun won 15 of 16 seats in Sunday’s third round of the polls, held in the Maronite Christian heartland northeast of Beirut. There was no Aoun-allied candidate for the last seat.
The As Safir newspaper said Aoun had established a greater hold over Lebanon’s Christian community than any political leader since the civil war.
Ordinary people in the Christian heartland agreed.
“This victory will give the Christians a morale boost after 15 years of misery under politicians who have cared only about their own interests,” said 24-year-old carpenter Bechara Matta.
FROM EXILE TO ELECTION GLORY: Aoun was forced into exile in France after his “war of liberation” against Syrian forces was crushed in 1990.
He returned in May, two weeks after Syrian troops left. In exile, he lobbied for world support to force Syria out, claiming some credit for a U.N. resolution demanding Syria’s withdrawal.
Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon in April after the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri sparked mass street protests and intensified international pressure.
Candidates backed by Aoun narrowly lost to opponents supported by Druze chieftain Walid Jumblatt in the Baabda-Aley district, where 11 seats were contested.
Jumblatt, whose candidates won all eight seats in his mainly Druze stronghold of Shouf, said Aoun was a barrier who was protecting and defending the presidency.
“Now things are much more difficult, much more difficult and I don’t know as democratic forces how we are going to continue fighting the security regime to dismantle it,” Jumblatt told reporters on Monday.
Aoun said earlier that Jumblatt, one of the highest-profile anti-Syrian opposition figures before his return, was suffering from a nervous breakdown and should get treatment.
A European Union observer mission said in a statement the election was peaceful overall but it had received allegations of vote buying by rival candidates.
“It also witnessed several attempts of vote buying and noted problems with the distribution of voter cards,” it said.
The pro-Syrian Shi’ite Hezbollah guerrilla group and its allies raised their representation in the 128-seat parliament to 35 by winning 10 seats in the eastern Baalbek-Hermel district.—Reuters
