Hezbollah, allies lose parliamentary majority in Lebanon polls

By Idiris Okuduci

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AA) – Lebanese group Hezbollah and its allies lost majority in the 128-seat parliament following this weekend’s general elections, according to official results announced by the interior minister on Tuesday.

The final election results announced by Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi showed that no party has secured the 64 seats necessary to form the government.

The Lebanese Forces Party, an opponent of Hezbollah, gained ground by securing 20 seats, up from only 15 in the outgoing parliament.

Hezbollah opponent Kataeb Party, a Christian faction led by Samy Gemayel, also increased its number of lawmakers in the parliament from three to five.

The Progressive Socialist Party led by Druze politician Walid Jumblatt won nine seats in Sunday’s vote, the Christian Independence Movement won two seats, while the Christian National Liberal Party won only one seat.

The Hezbollah group, which is defined as being close to the Syrian regime and Iran, increased its votes slightly, but its allies either lost votes or could not enter the parliament.

Hezbollah won 16 seats in the new parliament, up from 14 in the outgoing parliament.

A total of 718 candidates ran for places in the parliament during Sunday’s vote.

Voter turnout in the elections reached 41%, down from over 49% in the 2018 elections, Mawlawi told reporters.

Sunday’s parliamentary elections were the first in Lebanon since the 2020 Beirut port explosion that killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and destroyed much of the capital Beirut.

The vote was held amid a deep economic crisis that has grappled the Arab country since late 2019, including a massive currency depreciation as well as fuel and medical shortages.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara