Lebanese Vote Again for New Parliament
September 4, 2000 - 0:0
BEIRUT Lebanese voters went to the polls Sunday in a second, final stage of parliamentary elections which could see former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, the main drive behind the country's post-war rebuilding process, return to office.
Sunday's voting in the capital, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Southern Lebanon will elect 65 MPs for the 128-seat single chamber Parliament, which is divided equally between Muslims and Christians.
According to an AFP report, Interior Minister Michel Murr announced that the morning turnout was relatively low, hoping that it would improve throughout the day in a process free of security incidents.
Murr told a press conference that turnout was 15 percent in Beirut, 11 percent in eastern Lebanon and 11.75 percent in the southern parts of the country at 11:15 a.m. (0815 GMT).
Voters in the south who live in the border strip occupied by Israel for 22 years until May 24 were voting in their region for the first time since 1972, the date of the last polls before the 15-year civil war which ended in 1990.
Controversial changes to constituency borders have made the south a single entity, where the Christian vote is likely to be overwhelmed by candidates chosen for the joint Muslim Hizbollah-Amal list, even in Christian areas.
Hizbollah enjoys immense prestige among most voters in the south for its leading role in the resistance war that forced the Israeli withdrawal.
Hariri's allies won an impressive victory in last Sunday's first round of voting in northern Lebanon and the central region of Mount Lebanon.
Observers expect a large success for Hariri in the capital and through his sister, MP Bahia Hariri, in Southern Lebanon, a result which would put President Emile Lahoud under intense pressure to re-appoint Hariri to his old job.
Hariri, after casting his vote early Sunday, said Lahoud was not against "cohabitation" between them, and accused the Hoss government of fueling friction.
Lahoud himself has been highly critical of "corruption" in Hariri's previous administrations, and Hariri refused to head the first government under Lahoud when the latter came to the presidency in 1998 because of bitter disputes between them.
The Constitution of Lebanon calls for the president to select the new prime minister after consulting with members of the freshly elected Parliament.
Sunday's voting in the capital, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Southern Lebanon will elect 65 MPs for the 128-seat single chamber Parliament, which is divided equally between Muslims and Christians.
According to an AFP report, Interior Minister Michel Murr announced that the morning turnout was relatively low, hoping that it would improve throughout the day in a process free of security incidents.
Murr told a press conference that turnout was 15 percent in Beirut, 11 percent in eastern Lebanon and 11.75 percent in the southern parts of the country at 11:15 a.m. (0815 GMT).
Voters in the south who live in the border strip occupied by Israel for 22 years until May 24 were voting in their region for the first time since 1972, the date of the last polls before the 15-year civil war which ended in 1990.
Controversial changes to constituency borders have made the south a single entity, where the Christian vote is likely to be overwhelmed by candidates chosen for the joint Muslim Hizbollah-Amal list, even in Christian areas.
Hizbollah enjoys immense prestige among most voters in the south for its leading role in the resistance war that forced the Israeli withdrawal.
Hariri's allies won an impressive victory in last Sunday's first round of voting in northern Lebanon and the central region of Mount Lebanon.
Observers expect a large success for Hariri in the capital and through his sister, MP Bahia Hariri, in Southern Lebanon, a result which would put President Emile Lahoud under intense pressure to re-appoint Hariri to his old job.
Hariri, after casting his vote early Sunday, said Lahoud was not against "cohabitation" between them, and accused the Hoss government of fueling friction.
Lahoud himself has been highly critical of "corruption" in Hariri's previous administrations, and Hariri refused to head the first government under Lahoud when the latter came to the presidency in 1998 because of bitter disputes between them.
The Constitution of Lebanon calls for the president to select the new prime minister after consulting with members of the freshly elected Parliament.