close
Friday March 29, 2024

Hizbullah allies gain in Lebanon vote

By AFP
May 08, 2018

BEIRUT: Hizbullah and its political allies won just over half the seats in Lebanon’s parliamentary election, unofficial results showed, boosting an Iranian-backed movement fiercely opposed to Israel and underlining Tehran’s growing regional clout.

Hizbullah’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, called it a "political and moral victory" for the "resistance", as the group refers to itself and allies. Branded a terrorist group by the United States, the heavily armed Hizbullah has grown in strength since joining the war in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad in 2012.The gains for parties and politicians who support Hizbullah’s possession of weapons risk complicating Western policy in Lebanon, which is banking on foreign aid and loans to revive its stagnant economy and receives US military support.

An Israeli minister said the outcome, which has yet to be confirmed by official results, showed the Lebanese state was indistinguishable from Hizbullah, signalling the risk of Israel hitting Lebanon’s government in a future war. Western-backed Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri lost over a third of his seats.

He blamed a complex new voting law and gaps in his party’s performance. But with 21 MPs, down from 33 in the last parliament, he emerged as the Sunni Muslim leader with the biggest bloc in the 128-seat house, making him the frontrunner to form the next government.

Initial indications showed the staunchly anti-Hizbullah Lebanese Forces, a Christian party, emerging as a big winner, nearly doubling its lawmakers to at least 15 from eight. Lebanon’s prime minister must be a Sunni under its sectarian power-sharing system. The new government, like the outgoing one, is expected to include all the main parties. Talks over cabinet posts are expected to take time.

"Hariri is going to be further weakened in any kind of government going forward," Andrew Tabler of the Washington Institute said. "His ability to substantially tame or restrain Hizbullah in Lebanon is going to be very limited."

"It will lead to more criticism of US military aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces" in Washington, he added. Hizbullah, along with allied groups and individuals, secured at least 67 seats, according to a Reuters calculation based on preliminary results for nearly all the seats obtained from politicians and campaigns and reported in Lebanese media.