BEIRUT — With a voter turnout of 44.59% and in an environment of excellent security and competitiveness, the Lebanese government successfully organized the first round of municipal and mayoral elections in Mount Lebanon Governorate. 

The municipal elections will be held in four stages during the current month, covering all Lebanese governorates. This comes amidst an escalation in tensions surrounding Lebanon, particularly in the occupied Palestinian territories and Syria.

The elections, held for the first time in nine years, followed repeated postponements since 2016. It is obviously a test for political factions to determine the extent of their popular representation ahead of the major parliamentary elections in May 2026, which will be pivotal to the Lebanese political life.

In various municipalities in Beirut’s southern suburb (Dahiyeh), a Hezbollah stronghold in Mount Lebanon Governorate, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, aka the Shiite duo, won unopposed under the “Development and Loyalty List”.

The duo won in the Ghobeiry suburb against the “Ghobeiry Gathers Together” list, supported by embassies.

In Haret Hreik, the duo also won against a list supported by the Lebanese Forces party. Despite their recent strained relationship, the duo formed an alliance with the Free Patriotic Movement, which may pave the way for the resumption of the Shiite-Christian alliance in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Pro-Resistance voters emphasized that their participation was “in favor of the resistance approach and the sacrifices of the martyrs.”

“We voted to affirm our loyalty to the approach of our supreme martyr, His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,” the father of one of the martyrs told Tehran Times.

President Joseph Aoun followed the elections on the ground. Prior to the start of the election, he visited the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities, where he was received by Minister of Interior and Municipalities Ahmad Hajjar and Minister of Justice Adel Nassar.

“It is important that these elections were held on time, especially since approximately 90% of the municipalities in Lebanon have been dissolved. Citizens complain that these municipalities are not meeting their needs and requirements, even though municipalities play a fundamental role in the development,” Aoun said. 

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also visited the operations room at the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities to monitor the vote counting process, stressing that “the election process proceeded smoothly and without any disruption. Administrative complaints were followed up and resolved quickly.”

For his part, after the ballot boxes closed, Hajjar said: “The process proceeded smoothly, without any pressure or any significant problems.”

Further, Army Commander General Rodolphe Heikal also inspected the Mount Lebanon operations room, where he was briefed on the exceptional security measures taken to ensure the safety of the electoral process.