Lebanon's opposition scored a victory in the first round of general elections Monday, winning the bulk of the seats in the central Mount Lebanon region, official results showed.
The opposition, led by Druze chief Walid Jumblatt, won 22 of Mount Lebanon's 35 seats, while candidates supported by the government won 13.
Jumblatt has called for a new balance in relations with Syria, which is the powerbroker in the country and has 35,000 troops stationed there.
In the north, however, several pro-Syrian lists shared the 28 seats among themselves.
Interior Minister Michel Murr, himself a successful candidate, announced the definitive results on Monday evening.
"The biggest victor is the Lebanese state and authorities who have demonstrated their impartiality in these elections," he said.
He said the turnout had been higher than in the last elections in 1996. Official figures show a turnout of 56 percent in Mount Lebanon and 46 percent in the north.
The 1.3 million voters in the two areas, which were divided into six constituencies, were faced with a choice of 286 candidates for the 63 seats to be filled.
"The voters have sent a clear message to those in power who must draw the consequences," said the big first round winner, Jumblatt.
The two lists that he was backing in the mountains east of Beirut won 11 out of 13 seats.
The only Hezbollah deputy, who was a candidate in the southern outskirts of Beirut, was elected with relatively poor support, finishing well behind the other Shiite candidate, Bassem al Sabaa, who is close to former prime minister, Rafiq Hariri.
The Druze leader called for "the formation of a true government of national reconciliation ... I am waiting to see if the president of the republic, Emile Lahoud, will go in this direction."
In the Metn region to the north-east of Beirut, the list supported by the interior minister picked up five of the eight seats, including one for the president's 25-year-old son, also called Emile Lahoud, who enters parliament for the first time.
His cousin Nassib Lahoud, a leading opposition figure, held on to his seat and the son of the former president, Pierre Amin Gemayel, 27, also in the opposition, was also elected for the first time.
In Kesruan-Jbeil, the last constituency in Mount Lebanon, the former foreign minister Fares Bueiz scraped through to hold onto his seat.
In the north, the 28 seats contested were won by the established and wealthy families.
The second and final stage of the parliamentary elections will take place Sunday in Beirut, the Bekaa valley and in southern Lebanon, where residents of the zone occupied by Israel for 22 years will be able to vote for the first time – BEIRUT (AFP)
FOLLOWING ARE THE OFFICIAL RESULTS PUBLISHED BY THE DAILY STAR NEWSPAPER ON TUESDAY:
MOUNT LEBANON
DISTRICT ONE
JBEIL:
Nazem Khoury (Maronite) 30,718 Dignity and Renewal
Abbas Hashem (Shiite) 29,677 Popular Decision
Fares Soueid (Maronite) 27,199 Dignity and Renewal
KESROUAN
Farid Khazen (Maronite) 43,633 Popular Decision
George Frem (Maronite) 40,637 Dignity and Renewal
Mansour Bone (Maronite) MP 34,241 Dignity and Renewal
Neamatallah Abi Nasr (Maronite) 29,972 Dignity and Renewal
Fares Boueiz (Maronite) MP 25,343 Popular Decision
MOUNT LEBANON
DISTRICT TWO
METN:
Michel Murr (Orthodox) MP 47,442 Metn Accord
Emile Lahoud Jr (Maronite) 37,413 Metn Accord
Pierre Gemayel (Maronite) 35,998 (independent)
Albert Mokheiber (Orthodox) 34,211 (independent)
Nassib Lahoud (Maronite) MP 33,499 Freedom
Antoine Haddad (Catholic) MP 33,092 Metn Accord
Sebouh Hovnanian MP 32,163 Metn Accord
(Armenian Orthodox)
Ghassan Ashqar (Maronite) MP 29,863 Metn Accord
MOUNT LEBANON
DISTRICT THREE
BAABDA:
Salah Honein (Maronite) 48,082 Mount Lebanon Unity
Antoine Ghanem (Maronite) 46,580 Mount Lebanon Unity
Bassem Sabaa (Shiite) MP 46,428 Mount Lebanon Unity
Abdullah Farhat (Maronite) 44,485 Mount Lebanon Unity
Ayman Shuqair (Druze) MP 43,370 Mount Lebanon Unity
Ali Ammar (Shiite) 38,337 Hizbullah
ALEY:
Fouad Saad (Maronite) 48,952 Mount Lebanon Unity
Akram Chehayeb (Druze) MP 48,866 Mount Lebanon Unity
Talal Arslan (Druze) MP 46,796 Consensus and Renewal
Antoine Andraous (Orthodox) MP 41,539 Mount Lebanon Unity
Pierre Helou (Maronite) 40,480 Consensus and Renewal
MOUNT LEBANON
DISTRICT FOUR
CHOUF:
Marwan Hamade (Druze) MP 51,441 National Struggle
Walid Jumblatt (Druze) MP 50,723 National Struggle
Mohammed Hajjar (Sunni) 49,067 National Struggle
Nabil Boustany (Maronite) MP 48,883 National Struggle
Neameh Tohme (Catholic) 48,416 National Struggle
George Deeb Neameh (Maronite) MP 47,581 National Struggle
Elie Aoun (Maronite) 47,523 National Struggle
Alaeddine Tirro (Sunni) MP 46,019 National Struggle
NORTH LEBANON
DISTRICT ONE
AKKAR:
Issam Fares (Orthodox) MP 38,103 Coalition
Jamal Ismail (Sunni) 36,897 Coalition
Wajih Baarini (Sunni) MP 34,940 Coalition
Mikhail Daher (Maronite) 33,900 Coalition
Mohammed Yehia (Sunni) 33,849 Popular Will
Karim Rassi (Orthodox) 32,247 Popular Will
Abdel-Rahman Abdel-Rahman 30,574 Coalition
(Alawite) MP
DINNIEH:
Ahmad Fatfat (Sunni) MP 46,383 Development
Jihad Samad (Sunni) MP 31,242 Popular Will
BSHARRI:
Gebran Tawq (Maronite) MP 34,972 Popular Will
Qabalan Issa Khoury (Maronite) MP 30,700 Coalition
NORTH LEBANON
DISTRICT TWO
TRIPOLI:
Najib Mikati (Sunni) 74,400 Solidarity and Development
Maurice Fadel (Orthodox) MP 72,083 Solidarity and Development
Mohammed Safadi (Sunni) 71,377 Solidarity and Development
Mohammed Kabbara (Sunni) MP 56,840 Solidarity and Development
Omar Karami (Sunni) MP 54,310 Dignity
Mosbah Ahdab (Sunni) MP 49,631 Independent
Ahmad Hbous (Alawite) MP 46,027 Solidarity and Development
Jean Obeid (Maronite) MP 59,349 Solidarity and Development
MINYEH:
Saleh Kheir (Sunni) MP 46,749 Solidarity and Development
ZGHORTA:
Suleiman Franjieh (Maronite) MP 72,059 Solidarity and Development
Nayla Mouawad (Maronite) MP 60,206 Dignity
Qaisar Mouawad (Maronite) 56,078 Solidarity and Development
BATROUN:
Butros Harb (Maronite) MP 45,927 Solidarity and Development
Sayed Aql (Maronite) MP 45,867 Solidarity and Development
KOURA:
Fayez Ghosn (Orthodox) MP 57,549 Solidarity and Development
Farid Makari (Orthodox) MP 56,770 Solidarity and Development
Salim Saade (Orthodox) 56,235 Solidarity and Development
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
