|
Hizbullah loses parliamentary majority, Oct. 17 secures 16 seats
[AnNahar]  ...In 2020 Hezbollah blew up a considerable portion of Beirut and many of its inhabitants when its ammonium nitrate facility exploded. They blamed it on... somebody else. It wasn't them though. Trust them on that. And it ain't never coming to trial...'s Hizbullah ... Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistanceand purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... and its allies lost their parliamentary majority, official results showed Tuesday, while independents achieved a surprise breakthrough. Full results announced by the interior ministry two days after the election revealed that no bloc will control the 128-seat assembly, a deadlock observers fear could usher in a tense period of political jostling. The polls, the first since Lebanon was ravaged by its worst ever economic crisis and a cataclysmic explosion at Beirut port in 2020, were seen as a prerequisite for a crucial IMF bailout. The Hizbollah-led coalition won 61 seats in the 128-member legislature, a drop of 10 members since the last vote was held four years ago. They fell short of the 65 needed to retain a majority following Sunday's polls. The loss was largely due to setbacks suffered by the group’s political partners, and was not expected to weaken the group’s domination of Lebanese politics. All 13 Hizbullah candidates who ran got elected. Their strongest opponents in parliament will be led by the Christian Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... party of former warlord Samir Geagea ...Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005... , that raked in several new seats on the back of a virulent anti-Hizbullah campaign. New reformist faces who entered the legislative race on the values of a 2019 anti-establishment uprising made a stronger showing that many had predicted. 17 candidates who backed the 2019 protest movement won seats. At least twelve of them will sit in parliament for the first time. Together with independents and other non-aligned MPs who have sometimes supported the now-defunct protest movement's demands, they could find themselves in a kingmaking position. They could obtain the support of MP Osama Saad, who supported the protests, and new MP Abdul Rahman al-Bizri. That was a major achievement considering they went into the vote fragmented and facing intimidation and threats by entrenched mainstream parties. Their showing sends a strong message to ruling class politicians who have held on to their seats despite an economic meltdown that has impoverished the country and triggered the biggest wave of emigration since the 1975-90 civil war. One of the most notable victories notched up by independents was the election in the third South district of Elias Jradeh and Firas Hamdan for seats that Hizbullah and its allies had not lost in three decades. Another major satisfaction for those described in Lebanon as the "thawra" (revolution, in Arabic) candidates, was the defeat of several reviled MPs loyal to the Syrian government of Bashir al-Assad. Hizbullah weapons: Will polls make radical changes [AnNahar] The main issue that would polarize the new parliament elected on Sunday is Hizbullah's right to keep an arsenal that is described as equivalent to or better than the state's. Some see it as a historical right and the best defense for the small Mediterranean country while others consider Hizbullah's weapons to be the root of all of Lebanon's ills. “They forgot the political system, economic system, corruption, the war in Syria and its effects on Lebanon and they forgot the American sanctions,” Hibullah's MP Hussein Haj Hassan said. Sami Nader, an analyst with the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, said that Hizbullah had suffered symbolic losses but was skeptical the polls could yield radical changes. "Hizbullah and the Iranian axis took a blow but will this pave way for change in Lebanon? I have doubts," he told AFP. The formation of a government, the election of parliament's speaker and the presidential election could all be very contentious and lead to protracted political crises. Speaker Nabih Berri has held his job since 1992. President Michel Aoun, the world's third oldest head of state, had long planned for his son-in-law Jebran Bassil to take over but the Lebanese Forces' surge in the polls could disrupt that scenario. Disarming Hizbullah has dominated political campaigns among almost all of the group’s opponents, while Hizbullah supporters consider the group defended Lebanon against Israel and against attacks by the Islamic State group and al-Qaida-linked militants over the years. Posted by: trailing wife 2022-05-18 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=633213 |