Al-Jazeera, Qatar
May 29 2005
Saad al-Hariri’s bloc sweeps Beirut
Candidates led by the son of slain ex-premier Rafik al-Hariri have
won all the seats in Beirut in Lebanon’s general election, a
government source said.
“The count is nearly over and it’s a landslide for Saad’s list,” said
the source, who asked not to be identified.
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 Saad’s list had taken all 10 remaining
seats.
“This victory is for Rafik al-Hariri. Today Beirut showed its loyalty
to Rafik al-Hariri,” Saad, 35, told a jubilant crowd celebrating
outside his villa in the capital.
“Today is a victory for democracy…freedom and sovereignty,” he said
to chanting supporters.
Saad’s candidates have taken all
10 remaining Beirut seats
Turnout
Turnout in the first round of Lebanon’s election on Sunday stood at
28%, Aljazeera reported quoting preliminary official estimates at
close of polling.
Disclosing this information at a press conference in Beirut,
Lebanon’s Interior Minister Hasan al-Sabaa said “official results
would be announced midday on Monday”.
According to Sabaa, “no security incident that could have affected or
obstructed the electoral process took place” during the daylong
elections in the capital – the first in a four-stage poll.
“The Lebanese people voted in a democratic atmosphere and in full
freedom, without pressure,” Aljazeera quoted him as saying.
“We have received congratulations from international observers about
the exemplary process of the elections”.
Boycott urged
Over 400,000 men and women
above 21 were eligible to vote
Earlier, followers of Christian leader Michel Aoun, left off Saad’s
anti-Syrian ticket, urged people to shun the polls, handing out
orange stickers that said: “Boycott the appointments”.
The Armenian Tashnag party, disgruntled because the four seats
reserved for Beirut’s big Armenian community had gone unopposed to
Saad’s candidates, also demanded a boycott.
“No participation without proper representation for all in Beirut,”
said Tashnag leaflets in Arabic and Armenian.
The polls follow two political earthquakes in Lebanon – al-Hariri’s
killing in a bomb blast many Lebanese blamed on Damascus, and the end
of Syria’s 29-year troop presence.
Between those landmark events, flag-waving Christians and Muslims,
including many civil war foes, flooded the streets in protests
against Syria, which denied any hand in al-Hariri’s death.
New start
For some, Lebanon’s first elections in three decades without Syrian
troops offer a new start.
“I voted because I believe in change,” Basil Eid, 27. “We want
Lebanon free of any subordination. We have to rule ourselves by
ourselves.”
Late Rafik al-Hariri’s wife Nazik
cast her ballot in Sunday’s vote
For others, the euphoria of the anti-Syrian protests has given way
to dismay at politicians who have reverted to electoral horse-trading
and alliances that curtail voter choice.
“Why should I vote when the result is already decided?” said
Abdul-Rahman Itani, in his 40s, near the polling station where the
late al-Hariri’s wife Nazik cast her ballot.
Armed police and soldiers guarded polling stations in Beirut, where
more than 400,000 men and women aged over 21 are eligible to vote.
Official results will be declared on Monday.
Only a handful of pro-Syrian leftists and Muslim hardliners are
competing with Saad’s Future bloc in Beirut.
Solidarity eroded
The solidarity of the anti-Syrian alliance that blossomed after
al-Hariri’s death has eroded in the run-up to the election.
“Why should I vote when the result is already decided?”
Abdul-Rahman Itani,
Beirut resident
Saad’s alliance with Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and some Christian
foes of Syria is intact, but Aoun, a fierce opponent of Syria just
back from exile, was left out in the cold.
Yet the Saad-Jumblatt front has also made deals with the main
pro-Syrian Shia alliance.
Saad’s Beirut ticket includes a Hizb Allah candidate. The joint
Amal-Hizb Allah list in the south embraces Bahiya al-Hariri, the
slain leader’s sister.
Tight contests are expected in the north and centre of the country,
especially among Christian rivals.