TRIPOLI, June 19: Northern Lebanese voted in the final phase of the country’s election on Sunday, with an opposition coalition seeking a parliamentary majority and a mandate to end Syria’s influence.

The ballot, staggered by region over four weekends, is the first to be held with no Syrian military presence for three decades, after Damascus pulled its troops out in April.

The northern Lebanon vote, in which more than 100 candidates are fighting for the remaining 28 parliamentary seats, will decide whether the 128-seat assembly has an anti-Syrian majority or the first time since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Competition is close and sectarian tension is high.

The anti-Syrian list, backed by the Sunni Muslim son of assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, squares off against an alliance of pro-Syrians and Damascus’ erstwhile foe, former general Michel Aoun, a Maronite Christian.

Aoun’s victory in the Christian heartland of Mount Lebanon in last week’s round stunned the disparate movement whose street protests following Hariri’s assassination on Feb. 14 forced Syria to bow to global pressure and pull out of Lebanon.

Saad al-Hariri’s slate must now win 21 of the seats up for grabs in the north to have an absolute majority — a far cry from the two-thirds the anti-Syrian front had predicted.

“I voted for Hariri’s list because Saad al-Hariri represents the Sunnis. His list represents moderation in Lebanon,” Abdul Majid Basheer said in mainly Sunni Muslim Tripoli.

If Hariri’s coalition, which swept the polls in Beirut three weeks ago, fails to secure enough seats, it will become just one of three substantial blocs in the assembly, forced to bargain with anti-Syrian rivals and compromise with allies of Damascus.

“People should vote for our project to succeed or else we will not be able to change anything in this country,” Hariri told Lebanon’s Future Television.

Security was tight around polling stations where pictures of the candidates were plastered on walls, billboards and hung on electricity and telephone poles. Rival candidates accused each other of vote-buying and intimidation.

Turnout stood at 40 per cent of the 690,000 eligible voters an hour before polls closed at 6 p.m. (1500 GMT), the Interior Ministry said.

European Union monitors observing the May 29-June 19 election are expected to issue a verdict on Monday. It is the first time international observers have monitored Lebanese polls.

“I voted for Aoun because he is clean,” Nabil Mubarak said after he cast his ballot in the Christian town of Batroon. “We want change, we want to try a new person.”

However, in the mountain town of Bsharri, many Christians voted for a candidate on the anti-Syrian list, Strida Geagea, wife of the jailed leader of the once-powerful Lebanese Forces.

“We are voting for Samir Geagea’s release. We want real change and real reconciliation,” Raymond Ghandour said.

Unlikely alliances that characterised the election are likely to crumble once the results are out.

They are expected to realign into three main blocs — the anti-Syrian faction, the pro-Syrian group dominated by Shia Amal and Hizbollah, and Aoun’s followers.

They will jostle for a say on divisive issues such as the fate of Syria’s close ally President Emile Lahoud and international calls for Hizbollah guerillas to disarm.—Reuters