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  • Lebanese Elections

    Hariri Bloc Sweeps Beirut Parliamentary Elections
    By Carrie Giardino
    Beirut
    30 May 2005

    The Interior Ministry in charge of parliamentary elections in Lebanon announced a landslide victory for the son of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in the Beirut district. Three more rounds of voting in other regions of the country lie ahead.

    In the first vote since the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanese territory, official results are in from the first round of voting in Lebanon's parliamentary elections. The landslide victory went to the list of candidates headed by Saad Hariri, the son of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

    Interior Minister Hassan al-Sabaa read the results on Monday.

    He announced the names of the candidates who secured the 10 seats still being contested during Sunday's vote. The Hariri ticket had already secured the nine other seats for the Beirut district, which were uncontested. Minister al-Sabaa says Saad Hariri's party secured the most votes overall and all 19 seats in Beirut.

    After the death of the elder Hariri in a bomb attack on February 14, his son Saad, a businessman in Saudi Arabia, returned to Lebanon to continue his father's political legacy. The assassination united many of the opposition parties, who called for the removal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

    The elections, the first to welcome outside observers, was declared free and fair by the head of the European Union election observer team.

    Less than 30 percent of the 400,000 registered voters in the Beirut district cast their ballots on Sunday.

    Many supporters of Christian politicians boycotted the elections, declaring that a 2000 electoral districting law still in use did not properly represent them. The Free Patriotic Movement, led by former General Michel Aoun, who returned from exile earlier this month, posted "no vote" signs throughout the Christian suburbs in Beirut.

    Despite the low turnout, the Hariri camp claimed victory within hours of the polls closing Sunday night, and fireworks lit the skies, as crowds celebrated the victory.

    The elections in Lebanon are held in four stages by region. The next round of parliamentary elections will take place in south Lebanon on Sunday.

    http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-05-30-voa8.cfm

  • #2
    This just goes to show that those darned Middle Easterners will never grasp the basic concepts of Democracy.

    There they go again, exercizing their rights...

    -dale

    Comment


    • #3
      Isn't it good to see! The low turnout is a bit of a worry though. Low turnouts let nutters in.
      at

      Comment


      • #4
        The elections, the first to welcome outside observers, was declared free and fair by the head of the European Union election observer team.
        Well, THAT sure gives me confidence.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Bluesman
          Well, THAT sure gives me confidence.
          Well at least they didn't get Jimmy Carter's stamp of a approval. Then it would have been a fraud for sure.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Leader
            Well at least they didn't get Jimmy Carter's stamp of a approval. Then it would have been a fraud for sure.
            Thought that was HILARIOUS - Carter's stamp of approval scrubbed off while he was forced to watch and agree that he got pwned like a n00b.

            The man is one of this country's greatest human embarrassments. Terrible President; WORSE ex-President.

            Comment


            • #7
              I just pray the people of Lebanon can find the freedom, peace, and prosperity, we all richly deserve.
              No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
              I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
              even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
              He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

              Comment


              • #8
                More on Lebanon

                Mourners Gather At Funeral Of Slain Lebanese Journalist

                BEIRUT - Hundreds of mourners have gathered at the funeral of slain Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir, amid calls for an international inquiry into his murder.

                Mourners lined the streets of central Beirut Saturday, waving Lebanese flags and throwing rose petals on the coffin as the funeral procession passed from Martyr's Square to a nearby Greek Orthodox church.

                Opposition groups blame Syrian intelligence agents for detonating a bomb under Mr. Kassir's car Thursday, in mainly Christian east Beirut. Damascus denies the accusation.

                A prominent journalist, Mr. Kassir regularly wrote strong anti-Syrian columns.

                His death comes as an international team investigates the February assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. His murder sparked massive protests and international pressure that forced Syria to withdraw its army from Lebanon after 29 years of political influence.

                http://www.texaspanhandleplains.com/...rder=0&thold=0

                Comment


                • #9
                  Not Good

                  Syria's allies head to victory in Lebanon poll
                  Sun Jun 5, 2005 11:46 AM ET

                  By Kamel Jaber

                  HOULA, Lebanon (Reuters) - Syria's staunchest allies Hizbollah and Amal were set to sweep south Lebanon's polls on Sunday in the first general elections since Syrian troops quit the country.

                  Many in the Shi'ite Muslim heartland see a vote for Hizbollah as a vote for retaining the group's arms as resistance against neighboring Israel which occupied the south for 22 years.

                  Lebanon's elections are being held by region over four weeks.

                  "I am going to vote for Hizbollah because they liberated the south. We owe them our blood," said Zeinab Yasin in Houla, among the first towns to be abandoned by Israeli troops in 2000.

                  Hizbollah, which Washington labels a terrorist group, and the more moderate Amal are the dominant forces among the Shi'ites, Lebanon's largest sect.

                  Voting got off to a slow start as the Amal-Hizbollah alliance, dubbed the "steamroller," had already won six of the 23 seats in the south by default, due to a lack of challengers.

                  Local media, quoting Interior Ministry sources, said turnout among the 675,000 eligible voters was 38 percent an hour before polls closed at 6 p.m. (1500 GMT). Results are expected on Monday.

                  Damascus backed both Amal and Hizbollah during and after the 1975-1990 civil war, and Shi'ites largely stayed away from anti-Syrian street protests that swept Beirut after the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

                  Those protests, which united Christians, Sunnis and Druze, forced Syria to bow to world pressure and end its 29-year military presence in Lebanon in April.

                  The biggest challenges facing the new parliament will include a U.N. resolution demanding the disarming of Hizbollah and the fate of President Emile Lahoud, a close ally of Syria.

                  Lahoud on Sunday rejected renewed opposition demands that he resign over Hariri's assassination and last week's killing of a prominent anti-Syrian journalist.

                  "I promised the Lebanese people when I was sworn in that I would uphold the constitution and Lebanon's unity," Lahoud said. "I am keeping my oath until the last minute of my constitutional tenure."

                  FIREFIGHT

                  Central and eastern Lebanon will vote next weekend in what promises to be the most heated round.

                  At least five people were wounded in pre-election violence east of Beirut on Sunday when a gunbattle erupted between supporters of rival Druze factions armed with assault rifles. It was not clear what triggered the clash in the town of Sofar.

                  The anti-Syrian opposition is expected to win in most parts of Lebanon, buoyed by public sympathy over Hariri's death and by his son Saad's landslide in the first round in Beirut last week.

                  But the key issue in the south is different.

                  Banners in many southern towns urged voters to choose the Amal-Hizbollah list as a rejection of international pressure to disarm the guerrilla group, whose attacks were instrumental in driving Israeli forces from southern Lebanon.

                  "Your vote is a bullet in the enemy's chest," read a banner in the mainly Sunni city of Sidon.

                  "Voters are affirming with their votes that they will protect the resistance as the resistance protected the nation with its weapons and bullets," said Sheikh Nabil Qaouq, Hizbollah's top official in southern Lebanon.

                  Some Christian opposition politicians called for an election boycott, complaining the shape of the districts made it hard to challenge the Amal-Hizbollah "steamroller."

                  Turnout appeared low in Christian areas, where supporters of staunch anti-Syrian Michel Aoun handed out leaflets declaring that "democracy has been burned in parliament."

                  It was significantly higher among Shi'ites, as Hizbollah and Amal supporters clad in their yellow and green colors drove around blaring patriotic songs and canvassing votes.

                  An Amal-Hizbollah alliance won a landslide in the south in the last general election in 2000, riding a wave of euphoria and support only months after Israel ended its occupation.

                  Hizbollah has 12 members in the present 128-seat assembly.

                  (Additional reporting by Alaa Shahine, Hussein Saad in Tyre and Ali Hashisho in Sidon)

                  http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...5&pageNumber=1

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    That's flat out stupid...
                    No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
                    I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
                    even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
                    He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      But they VOTED. Something Syria's own citizens can't do. And whatcha bet Syrians actually took note of that fact?

                      So, whatever. We STILL win, no matter what party did well in Lebanon.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Bluesman
                        But they VOTED. Something Syria's own citizens can't do. And whatcha bet Syrians actually took note of that fact?

                        So, whatever. We STILL win, no matter what party did well in Lebanon.
                        Yup. And just maybe some of these guys will find that they like making laws more than firing mortars from truck beds.

                        -dale

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Correct me if I'm wrong.
                          But is there any other country that has a known terrorist organization (Hizbollah) represented in a countrys national legislature?
                          Hizbollah, who is suspected; or in fact known, to have carried out the US Embassy bombing in the '80's where more the 300 Americans were killed.

                          http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...25/wirq225.xml
                          When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow. - Anais Nin

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Amled
                            Correct me if I'm wrong.
                            But is there any other country that has a known terrorist organization (Hizbollah) represented in a countrys national legislature?
                            Hizbollah, who is suspected; or in fact known, to have carried out the US Embassy bombing in the '80's where more the 300 Americans were killed.

                            http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...25/wirq225.xml
                            How about Ireland and Sinn Fein?

                            -dale

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by dalem
                              How about Ireland and Sinn Fein?
                              A murkey area indeed!

                              Sinn Fein; is NOT a terrorist organization. It is a legal and recognized political party. This despite its obvious connection to the IRA, and the fact that a majority of its leaders have a background in that organization. Besides they have (at least for the time being) laid down their guns and decided to try to achieve a political solution.
                              Splitting hairs I know! :)
                              When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow. - Anais Nin

                              Comment

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