Protests in Lebanon > RomanDeckert, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Elections held in Lebanon last weekend appear to have dealt a blow to the biggest bloc, led by the Iran-backed Shia terrorist group Hezbollah, according to provisional results.
Meanwhile, reformists appeared to have been boosted in the provisional results.
Turnout was low in the Sunday elections, the first since Lebanon was plunged into an economic crisis that has generated popular resentment against a tainted ruling class.
Many polling stations lacked electricity, requiring voters to use their smartphones to cast their ballots.
The ongoing crisis represents the country’s worst since the 1975–1990 civil war.
Official results released this week will show whether Hezbollah, a terrorist group and political party backed by Iran, will be able to hold onto its majority control over Lebanon’s 128-seat parliament.
Hezbollah, considered a terrorist organisation by many Western governments including the UK, appears to have retained all its seats, but its Christian allies in president Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement appears to have suffered losses.
Opposition forces also appear to have made gains, including the Saudi-backed Lebanese Forces and opposition candidates representing the cross-sectarian protest movement that has emerged since 2019.