Naharnet

Hariri Says Confident of Victory in Sidon after Municipal Polls Held in South, Nabatieh

The third round of Lebanon's municipal elections was held on Sunday in the South and Nabatieh governorates following similar polls that were held earlier in Beirut, Baalbek-al-Hermel and Mount Lebanon.

People stood in queues outside polling stations to cast their ballots and after the polls closed Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq announced that voter turnout was 44% in Sidon city, 57.5% in Sidon's villages, 53% in Jezzine, 42.5% in Bint Jbeil, 47% in Tyre, 43.2% in Marjeyoun, 47% in Hasbaya and 49% in Nabatiyeh.

Speaking from the city of Sidon in the evening, al-Mustaqbal leader ex-PM Saad Hariri announced that the Mustaqbal-led list was leading by two thirds of the vote.

“We congratulate Sidon... and we are confident that our list that is led by Mohammed al-Saudi will win,” he said.

“The new municipality will work for Sidon's future,” he added.

Three lists competed in the city, including one backed by al-Mustaqbal movement and headed by incumbent municipal chief Mohammed al-Saudi.

Al-Saudi's list was also backed by al-Jamaa al-Islamiya and former municipal chief Abdul Rahman al-Bizri.

The Mustaqbal-led coalition faced two other lists in the southern city -- one headed by Bilal Shaaban and backed by the Popular Nasserite Organization of ex-MP Osama Saad, and another headed by former al-Jamaa al-Islamiya senior official Ali Sheikh Ammar and backed by Islamists and supporters of imprisoned salafist cleric Ahmed al-Assir.

After casting his ballot at a school in the city, al-Saudi said: “The election process is going well. I promise the people of Sidon that the city will be much better in the next six years."

The Secretary General of Mustaqbal, Ahmed Hariri, hailed al-Saudi and said after voting: “We believe that he preserves the rights of Sidon.”

For his part, Head of the Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Saniora assured that participation in the polls “is a duty and citizens must choose whoever they want to express their opinion.”

Al-Jadeed television meanwhile reported that a list backed by the Lebanese Communist Party, MP Anwar al-Khalil and several families had won against a list backed by Hizbullah and al-Ahbash in the border town of Kfarshouba.

Army troops and security forces had deployed heavily in the areas of the South to preserve peace and ensure that the election process goes smoothly.

The electoral process was however marred by two security incidents in the Sidon region.

In Haret Saida, where Hizbullah and the AMAL Movement have a strong presence, a quarrel erupted between supporters of the list they back and others who support the incumbent municipal chief, which prompted a 15-minute suspension of the electoral process.

Later on Sunday, state-run National News Agency said a dispute erupted at a polling station in Sidon's al-Arbaeen neighborhood "after a citizen was spotted paying an electoral bribe."

In the city of Jezzine, the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement formed a list called “We are for Jezzine”. The rival list was backed by major families from the city families and the Kataeb Party has reportedly told its supporters that they are free in their electoral choice.

The LF and the FPM support another municipal list in the town of Maghdouche, south of Sidon, under the slogan “Maghdouche Gathers Us”. The list was headed by Ghazi Ayyoub.

It faced a list headed by the current municipal chief, George Younan, and supported by MP Michel Moussa, who is close to Speaker Nabih Berri.

Besides the municipal elections, Jezzine witnessed Sunday parliamentary by-elections aimed at filling the seat left vacant by the death of Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Helou, who passed away in 2014. FPM chief Jebran Bassil announced in the evening that the movement's candidate, Amal Abou Zeid, had won the by-election.

Joint lists between the AMAL movement and Hizbullah were formed in several areas in the South and Nabatieh, where they faced moderate competition by family lists and secular parties.

The province of Tyre includes 63 municipalities of which 18 have won uncontested. Lists dubbed “Development and Loyalty Lists” were formed by AMAL and Hizbullah and ran against lists formed by the Lebanese Communist Party, civil society activists and families.

Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) said that the polling process was halted for half an hour at noon in the town of Jwaya, when a female Syrian refugee tried to cast her vote in favor of the list competing that of Development and Loyalty.

In Bint Jbeil district, which includes 36 municipalities, eight won uncontested as lists were formed to compete against the “Development and Loyalty Lists.”

MP Hassan Fadlallah said after casting his ballot in the town of Ainata, a stronghold of Hizbullah: “I call for broad participation throughout the south and commitment to the electoral lists.”

In the southern district of Hasbaya, several villages including al-Habbarieh, Kfar Shuba and Kfar Hmam witnessed fierce electoral battles between the Communist Party on one side and al-Jamaa al-Islamiya and the al-Mustaqbal Movement on the other.

According to media reports, security forces busted a candidate "paying an electoral bribe" to a voter in the Hasbaya town of al-Meri.

Voice of Lebanon Radio (100.5) said a polling station in the Nabatieh town of al-Kfour was closed after the eruption of a dispute between supporters of AMAL and Hizbullah.

The municipal polls first kicked off in the capital Beirut and the Bekaa Valley on May 8. They were followed by elections in Mount Lebanon on May 15.

The last round will be held on May 29 in the North.

D.A./Y.R.

Source: Naharnet


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