Orange County Register, CA
May 30 2005

Hariri’s son leads in Lebanon
The country holds the first round of its national elections Sunday.

By SORAYA SARHADDI NELSON
Knight Ridder Newspapers

BEIRUT, LEBANON – The 35-year-old son of slain opposition leader
and billionaire Rafik Hariri appeared to sweep an election Sunday
in Beirut, the first round in Lebanon’s freest nationwide election
since the end of its civil war 15 years ago.

Lebanon’s Interior Ministry reported that unofficial results showed
28 percent of roughly 400,000 eligible Beirut voters turned out in an
election for a new parliament. Voter participation was expected to be
higher over the next three Sundays, when the elections continue across
this Mediterranean country. Tighter races were expected in the north
and central part of the country, especially among Christian rivals.

Lebanese media reported Sunday night that with nearly half of the
votes tallied, Hariri’s son, Saad, and his slate of 18 candidates
had won by a landslide in two of the city’s three districts and were
ahead in the third. Official results were expected today.

The election was the first since Syria withdrew its troops from the
country in April, ending a 29-year presence in the country.

Rafik Hariri’s assassination in a bomb blast was widely believed to
have been linked to his Syrian enemies. Large demonstrations sprang up
against Syria and its allies who ran Lebanon’s government. Many groups
pledged to unify to strengthen Lebanon’s independence and economy.

In recent months, however, the solidarity of the anti-Syrian alliance
has crumbled. Candidates for each of the 18 sects entitled to seats
in the government have returned to focusing on their own interests.

Political alliances among Hariri’s bloc, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt,
some Christian opponents of Syria and the pro-Syrian Shiite Muslim
guerrilla group Hezbollah have become fragile.

The younger Hariri’s opponents Sunday blamed the poor showing on
backroom deals by clan and religious leaders that left him running
uncontested in nine of 19 races.

But candidates allied with Saad Hariri, a Sunni Muslim, said few
people were willing to run against them after the uprising forced
Syrian forces to withdraw from Lebanon and brought down the pro-Syrian
government. Only a handful of pro-Syrian leftists and Muslim militants
competed with Hariri’s Ma’ak (With You) ticket in the Beirut polls
Sunday.

Under an election law, seats in the 128-member parliament are allotted
equally between Christians and Muslims.

“Everyone on my list is willing to give their soul and blood for
the good of the country like my father did,” Hariri said in a radio
broadcast Sunday morning.

“What Lebanese people have to do is vote, even if they do so with a
white slip” with no names on it, added Nabil de Freij, a Hariri bloc
incumbent, standing outside a polling station in a Christian-dominated
neighborhood. “To say ‘No, I don’t want to go vote’ is like saying
‘I don’t want to stay in this country.’ ”

Their pleas failed to resonate with many of Beirut’s diverse residents,
however, especially Christians.

Some Hariri opponents, including followers of Christian leader Michel
Aoun, who returned from exile three weeks ago, pressed for a boycott.

“We are not getting our rights, so why should we vote?” asked Garo
Asdvazadorian, 21, a hairdresser and activist with the Armenian
Tashnag party. The Tashnag party was disgruntled because some seats
reserved for Beirut’s Armenian community had gone unopposed to the
younger Hariri’s candidates.

Many voters who turned out Sunday wore buttons and ribbons to reinforce
their demand for change.

“We were expecting more, but we have to vote,” said Randa Daouk, 23,
a graphic design major at Lebanese American University. “It’s the
first time Lebanese are deciding their future, now that there is no
Syria here anymore.”

Some voters expressed disappointment at the number of uncontested
races.

“This is the worst election because it isn’t really an election,” said
shopkeeper Mosan al Sagir, 57. He said he voted for Hariri’s opponents.

International observers monitored the election for the first time
in Lebanon.

The voting continues next Sunday in Lebanon’s Shiite-dominated south.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress