Today, Monday, was declared a national public holiday, again in anticipation of possible security concerns, in the event that the defeated parties contest the results, which also still has not happened.
This morning I woke up and read that early results show a lead of 71 seats out of 128 for the ruling coalition, March 14th, Saad Hariri's group. As final results emerge today, let's see how a possible national unity government could be created while avoiding any future political crisis, which brought the country to a political standstill 2 years ago... We are also expecting reactions from the various international allies of both groups, namely the West including the USA for March 14th and Syria and Iran for March 8th.
On election day yesterday Sunday, I walked around Ashrafieh (the Christian area of East Beirut) to capture a few photos of this historical event:
Two young supporters of the Tayyar Party (orange party) of Christian leader Michel Aoun in Ashrafieh, pose for me with their inked thumb, sign they just voted. Michel Aoun has split with other Christian parties (who are part of the majority March 14th group) and formed the March 8th opposition coalition with Hezbollah...
Security measures were put in place. I took this photo, one street down from our flat in Ashrafieh.
Soldiers were also placed at strategic areas such as infront of polling stations.
Posters of parliamentary candidates were hanging from buildings and some walls were painted in the colour of the party, seen here for Michel Aoun's Tayyar Party. In the background, there is the beautiful maronite church.
Below is a poster of the late Gebrane Tueni, son of Ghassan Tueni who is still the Editor of An-Nahar newspaper and former minister as well as former Lebanese Ambassador to the UN in the crucial years in the beginning of the 1980s when Israel invaded Lebanon. I am reading Ghassan's book "Une guerre pour les autres" which he wrote in 1984 and which is dedicated to his son Gebrane, slain during the war. The woman next to Gebrane is Nayla Tueni, running for a Christian seat in Beirut 1 district, where we live. She is the daughter of Ghassan Tueni. She is one of few women running for parliamentary seats, most of whom are daughters, sisters or wives of Lebanon's political dynasties. As the title of a recent documentary on Al Jazeera English says: "Lebanese Elections: A Family Affair"...
In Lebanon, confession and religion plays a central role in public life. Indeed, even civil marriages are not recognised. When a Lebanese citizen registers a new born, he declares the baby's confession. When adult, that person will vote as a Christian Maronite for example, or as a Sunni Muslim, not only has a Lebanese. The Consitution was written in 1932 and was based on granting equal participation to the 18 official sects and no population census has taken place since then. Seats in parliament are divided equally between Muslims and Christians. As a result, relgion and state are intertwined, religious leaders have tremendous political power and lines between confessional beliefs and public policy are blurred.
Today, as the hours advance, official results are confirming that March 14 has a clear majority. The Israeli foreign minister has already made a statement stressing the importance for the new Lebanese government to prevent attacks from its territory towards Israel.
Until now, Hezbollah has been reacting positively to the election results, admitting defeat. Hezbollah MP Fadlallah made some quite mature and peacefull statements today calling for national unity and respect for diversity. Let's hope Lebanon's political leaders can all overcome past grievances and move on with building democratic institutions with full accountability to Lebanon's people.
