By Mirella Hodeib Daily Star staff

Monday, June 08, 2009

BEIRUT:

Lebanon's opposition conceded defeat against the March 14 coalition in pivotal polls Sunday after weeks of fierce campaigning. "We've lost the election," a senior opposition source, who declined to be identified, told Reuters. "We accept the result as the will of the people." "We'll go back to the way we were," the source added.

The opposition source said the March 14 coalition is expected to ensure between 69 and 70 seats in the 128 parliament.  The number matches figures predicted by the March 14 Forces.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt on Sunday warned the March 14 Forces against "isolating the other party."

The 2009 electoral battle centered in Christian districts, since the results of almost 100 seats of the assembly were decided in advance.

As The Daily Star went to press, unofficial results showed the March 14 Forces won by a clean sweep the districts of Beirut I, Batroun, Koura, and Bsharreh, and Tripoli.

According to unofficial results, Prime Minster Fouad Siniora won a parliamentary seat in the coastal city of Sidon. 

Preliminary results also showed the March 14 Forces as having a chance to win the Bekaa town of Zahle's seven seats.

According to unofficial results, the Free Patriotic Movement won all seats in the districts of Kesrouan, Jbeil, Baabda and Jezzine. 

The results of another decisive district, Metn were still unclear at dawn on Sunday. 

Official figures for all districts are expected to be announced by noon Monday.

A strong Hizbullah showing in the polls, especially in Shiite areas in south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley would further underline the group's determination to ignore domestic and international pressures to disarm.

Exit polls indicated that Hizbullah and Amal made clean sweeps in the south Lebanon districts of Nabatieh, Marjayoun, Hasbaya, and Tyre. Bint Jbeil, and Zahrani.

Hizbullah and its ally Shiite Movement Amal called Sunday's polls a referendum on the resistance's arms.

"Today's polls are a referendum on the path of resistance, unity and liberation," Speaker and leader of the Amal Movement Nabih Berri told reporters after he cast his vote in the southern village of Tebnin.

Sunday's polls were marked with euphoric scenes, with hundreds of thousands of Lebanese converging to polling stations all across the country to cast their votes. 

Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud told a news conference that the day-long polls saw the biggest turnout in years.

According to official numbers made available to the Interior Ministry the overall voter turnout reached 54.8 percent.

"The Lebanese can hold their head up," Baroud said, explaining that the Lebanese authorities and people "were up to the challenge of holding elections on one day."

Baroud said elections were "far from being perfect," but that "the Interior Ministry will learn from mistakes and try to avoid them in next sessions."

"Today's elections resemble the Lebanese [people's] democratic spirit," Baroud said.

Also on Sunday, President Michel Sleiman cast his vote in his home town of Amchit, near Jbeil, early in the morning.

He highlighted that he supported all candidates and that his sole concern was to strengthen democracy.

"Election day reflects democracy in Lebanon, which we should preserve," he said.

Sleiman said the national dialogue process would continue, adding that the next session would be scheduled according to the elections' outcome and the formation of a new cabinet.

"The new government will be a national unity cabinet," Sleiman stressed.

On Sunday, authorities appeared overwhelmed by the crowds of people who began lining up even before polling stations opened, with many Lebanese complaining of long waits of up three hours to cast their ballots.

Some 50,000 soldiers and police fanned out nationwide to prevent any outbreak of violence while more than 200 foreign observers, including former US president Jimmy Carter, monitored the election.

The polls were held under international supervision with a few hundred observers at the polling stations. 

International and local observers said on Sunday that Lebanon's general election appeared free of any flagrant violations despite some organizational problems and isolated security incidents.

"The issues that were raised are not dissimilar from those raised in any election," said John Sununu, a former US senator overseeing the election with the National Democratic Institute headed by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Al-Manar TV Website, 08/06/2009

Interior Minister Ziad Baroud held a press conference on Monday in which he announced the official results in all 26 districts all over Lebanon. 
 
In Bcharri district, Baroud announced the victory of Strida Geagea and Elie Keyrouz. Voter turnout was 37%.
 
In Tyre: Abed al-Majid Saleh, Mohammad Fneish, Nawwaf al-Moussawi and Ali Khreis won. Voter turnout was 48%. Hasan Fadlallah, Ayoub Hmayed and Ali Bazzi won in the Bint-Jbeil district. Voter turnout was 42%. Nabih Berri, Ali Osseiran and Michel Moussa won in the Zahrani district with voter turnout was 54%. Mohammad Raad, Yassine Jaber and Abdellatif al-Zein won in the Nabatiyeh district.
 
In Sidon district, Bahia Hariri and Prime Minister Fouad Saniora won with voter turnout being as high as 68%. In Jezzine district Ziad Aswad, Michel al-Helou and Issam Sawaya with voter turnout was 53%.
 
Boutros Harb and Antoine Zahra won in Batroun with voter turnout 56%. Walid al-Khoury, Simon Abi Ramia and Abbas Hashem won in the Jbeil district. Voter turnout was 65%. Farid Makari, Farid Habib and Nicolas Ghosn won in the Koura district with voter turnout was 47%. In Zgharta district, Sleiman Franjieh, Salim Karam and Stephan Douaihy won with voter turnout was 48%.
 
Akram Chehayeb, Talal Arslan, Henri Helou, Fouad al-Saad and Fadi al-Haber won in the Aley district with voter turnout was 54%. Wael Abu Faour, Amin Wehbe, Robert Ghanem, Antoine Saad, Ziad al-Qaderi and Jamal al-Jarrah won in the Rashaya district in West Bekaa.
 
Michel Aoun, Farid Elias al-Khazen, Youssef Khalil, Nematallah Abi Nasser and Gilberte Zouein won in the Kesrwan district. Voter turnout was 70%. 
 
And in the Baalbek-Hermel district, Ali Moqdad, Nawwar al-Sahili, Hussein al-Hajj Hassan, Hussein al-Moussawi, Assem Qanso, Kamel al-Rifai, Walid Succariyeh, Marwan Fares and Emile Rahme won there.  
 
In the Baabda district, the Change and Reform list, composed of Alain Aoun, Hekmat Dib, Naji Gharios, Fadi Aawar, Ali Ammar and Bilal Farhat, achieved victory.
 
Six seats out of the eight Metn seats were also secured by Change and Reform members. They are Ghassan Mkhayber, Ibrahim Kanaan, Salim Salhab, Nabil Nicolas, Hagope Paqradounian, Edgard Maalouf. Michel Murr and Sami Gemayel also won in the district.
 
Zahle, in contrast, was taken by the loyalty bloc represented by the "Zahle in heart" list composed of Shant Janjajian, Nicolas Fattoush, Toni Abu Khater, Joseph Maalouf, Elie Marouni, Ouqab Saqr, Assem Araji.
 
The case of Akkar was similar where Khodor Habib, Riad Rahhal, Nidal Tohme, Khaled Daher, Khaled Zahrban, Mouin Merhbi and Hadi Hbeich won.  
 
In Tripoli, Samer Saade, Mohamad Safadi, Mohamad Kabbara, Najib Miqati, Ahmad Karami, Samir Jisr, Badr Wannous, Robert Fadel won with a voting rate of 45%.
 
Beirut-1 district was also taken by the loyalty bloc. Nadim Gemayel, Nayla Tueini, Michel Pharaon, Serge Tor Sarkissian, Jean Augassabian won in the district. Nuhad Mashnuq and Hani Qobeissi won in Beirut-2 while the Future list in Beirut-3 won in full: Saad Hariri, Tammam Salam, Mohamad Kabbani, Ammar Houry, Imad Hout, Atef Majdalani, Ghazi Youssef, Ghazi Aridi, Bassem Al-Chab, Nabil De Freige.  
 
Kassem Abdul Aziz, Ahmad Fatfat and Hashem Alameddin won in the Menieh-Donnieh district with a voter turnout 56%. In the Shouf district, a victory was also recorded by the March 14 bloc with Walid Jumblatt, Marwan Hamade, Dory Chamoun, Elie Aoun, George Adwan, Mohamad Hajjar, Alaeddin Terro, Nehme Tohme winning.
 
Meanwhile, opposition members Ali Hasan Khalil, Ali Fayyad, Assaad Hardan, Anwar Khalil, Kassem Hashem won in the Hasbayya district.