International   

Pro-Western alliance wins in Lebanon

DUBAI: The Hizbollah-led alliance has suffered a major setback, with its rival pro-Western combine narrowly winning Lebanon’s crucial parliamentary elections. The March 14 coalition led by Saad Hariri, son of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, won 71 seats, according to official results. The Hizbollah-alliance secured 57 seats in the 128-member Parliament.

Analysts say the election results have two major implications. First, it is a setback to Iran and Syria, which are Hizbollah’s main allies in the region. Conversely, the United States, France and Saudi Arabia, the main supporters of the March 14 coalition, along with Israel, have reason to feel relieved with the results. Second, in the absence of a decisive mandate, Lebanon could face instability as the various political formations will now face the difficult task of forming a national unity government.

“Elections once again lead to a Parliament of national divisions,” said the pro-opposition daily As-Safir in its headline. It added: “What kind of government will emerge from these elections? Will the opposition insist once again on having a blocking minority and will the majority refuse once again to give it to them?”

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, whose Amal party is a Hizbollah ally, said he “fully accepted” the result. The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), Hizbollah’s Christian ally, also acknowledged defeat.

Hizbollah won all the 11 seats it contested. Israel, which had fought a bitter war in 2006 with Hizbollah, demanded on Monday that the new dispensation in Beirut should disallow the use of Lebanese territory for attacks against Israel.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Pro-Western alliance wins in Lebanon
Right-wing parties gain in EU vote
Gordon Brown in leadership row
N. Korea jails two U.S. journalists

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu