Aoun Signs Decree Calling for By-election to Replace Hizbullah MP

President Michel Aoun on Wednesday signed a decree calling for parliamentary by-elections in the Tyre district on September 15 to choose a successor for resigned Hizbullah MP Nawwaf al-Moussawi.

The vote for the Shiite seat will be held under the winner-takes-all system and not the proportional representation system, as stipulated by the 2018 electoral law.

The decree also carries the signatures of Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Interior Minister Rayya al-Hassan.

Moussawi resigned after a shooting at a police station in which he was allegedly involved.

According to a leaked police report, Moussawi and a dozen gunmen attempted to storm the station where his daughter and her ex-husband had been brought following a high-speed car chase.

After Moussawi's group was denied entry to the station, the report said a gunshot was fired, hitting the ex-son-in-law in his wrist. Moussawi denied firing. The dramatic dispute was apparently over child visitation rights.

Earlier this year, Hizbullah had suspended Moussawi's political activities because of a public spat with rival politicians in Parliament.