Hezbollah Seeks Greater Power In Lebanon In Vote
Jun 7, 2009 4 Comments ›› Erik Wong
A Lebanese woman shows her ink-stained finger after casting her ballot at a polling station in Beirut’s Christian sector of Ashrafieh, Lebanon, Sunday, June 7, 2009. Lebanese streamed to their hometowns on the Mediterranean coast and high up in the mountains Sunday to vote in crucial elections that could unseat a pro-Western government and install one dominated by the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
By SAM F. GHATTAS
BEIRUT (AP) – Lebanese streamed to their hometowns on the Mediterranean coast and high in the mountains Sunday to vote in a crucial election that could unseat a pro-Western government and install one dominated by Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
The race for the 128-member parliament will have repercussions beyond this tiny Arab country’s borders. A win for the alliance headed by Shiite militant Hezbollah, which the United States considers a terrorist organization, could bring international isolation and possibly a new conflict with Israel. It could also set back U.S. Mideast policy and boost the influence of Hezbollah’s backers, Syria and Iran.
“I voted for reform and change,” said Laure Khoury, a 32-year-old school teacher, after voting in the district of Byblos north of Beirut for Hezbollah’s Christian allies. “We tried the others for four years and we got nothing but promises and corruption. Enough is enough,” she said.
Lebanon has long been a main front in what many see as a power struggle between two main camps in the Mideast—the U.S. and its moderate Arab allies Saudi Arabia and Egypt on one side, and Iran and Syria and militant groups such as Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas on the other.
The vote is the latest chapter in four tumultuous years that began with the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005 in a car bombing. The pro-Western factions swept into power in elections the same year on a sympathy vote. But the government has been virtually paralyzed since by a power struggle with Hezbollah.
Hezbollah’s coalition includes the Shiite movement Amal and a major Christian faction led by former army chief Michel Aoun. Opposing it are the overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim supporters of current majority leader Saad Hariri—Rafik Hariri’s son—allied with several Christian and Druse factions.
Going into the election, the race for a majority appears too close to call. In the outgoing parliament, the pro-Western bloc had 70 seats and Hezbollah’s alliance had 58.
Hezbollah’s opponents say if the heavily armed group wins, it would drive Lebanon into the arms of Iran, which could use it as a front in the Islamic republic’s confrontation with Israel.
Neighboring Israel has raised the alarm. Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom called a win by Hezbollah, which fought the Jewish state in a 2006 war, “very dangerous for the stability of the Middle East, and by that the stability of the entire world.”
But Hezbollah’s Christian allies argue that a victory by their coalition will not have such a dramatic impact and will ensure peace in a nation divided by sectarian tensions. They say that involving Hezbollah more deeply in the political process—rather than shunning it—is the only way to bridge the sectarian divides.
Early Sunday, a steady stream of vehicles headed out of Beirut to the rest of the country because voters were required to cast their balllots in their hometowns. Some vehicles had flags of political groups fluttering to show loyalty.
Voters lined up outside polling stations in government buildings and public schools across the country after polls opened. There are some 3.2 million eligible voters out of a population of 4 million. Early unofficial returns were expected late Sunday and official results as early as Monday afternoon.
Troops in armored carriers and in trucks took up positions on major highways to ensure peaceful voting. Authorities have deployed some 50,000 soldiers and police.
President Michel Suleiman was among the early voters, casting his ballot in his hometown of Amchit on the coast north of Beirut.
“Democracy is a blessing that distinguishes Lebanon in the Middle East, and we must preserve it,” he told reporters.
There were widespread complaints about delays in the process, forcing voters to stand in lines. Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud asked people to be patient.
Scores of foreign observers, including former President Jimmy Carter, were monitoring the vote.
Speaking at a polling station in Beirut’s Christian sector of Ashrafieh, Carter expressed hope the U.S., Iran and other countries “will accept the results of the election and not try to interfere in the process.”
