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Lebanese pro-Western coalition wins a decisive victory over Hezbollah
Quote:
Lebanon confirms win for ruling coalition
Last Updated: Monday, June 8, 2009 | 8:30 AM ET
CBC News
Lebanese Sunni Muslim pro-Western supporters celebrate after the polling stations closed, in the Sunni stronghold of Tarik Jadideh, in Beirut on Sunday.Lebanese Sunni Muslim pro-Western supporters celebrate after the polling stations closed, in the Sunni stronghold of Tarik Jadideh, in Beirut on Sunday. (Hussein Malla/Associated Press)The ruling coalition in Lebanon has won a majority in national elections, fending off a strong challenge from Hezbollah and its allies, according to an official tally released Monday.
The count of Interior Minister Ziad Baroud, who read the returns from all 26 districts, had Saad Hariri's pro-Western coalition winning 68 seats of the 128-member legislature in Sunday's balloting. The Hezbollah-led alliance claimed 57 seats, while three seats went to Independents.
The final results confirm similar, preliminary reports. Even before the results were made official, supporters of the ruling bloc were celebrating by setting off fireworks, dancing in the streets and driving around in motorcades.
Decisive victory
The results are a major blow to the Hezbollah-led coalition, which some observers had expected would prevail in the vote.
"We have been told over and over again by so many people that the margin of victory was going to be so razor-thin," said CBC New's Peter Armstrong, reporting from Beirut.
"At the end of the day it actually ended up proving to be a decisive victory for the Western-backed coalition."
Legislators will now have to come together to form a national unity government, said Armstrong.
The seat allocation is almost unchanged from the outgoing legislature, ensuring that the same disputes will continue.
Hezbollah had veto power in Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's cabinet for the last year, which it won after provoking the worst street clashes since the civil war, which raged from 1975 to 1990. The pro-Western coalition had vowed not to give Hezbollah and its allies a blocking minority in the new government if they won.
Hariri said early Monday in a televised speech that he extends his hand to the losing side "to work together and seriously for the sake of Lebanon."
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Lebanon confirms win for ruling coalition
This is interesting. Will this be a setback for Hezbollah? Some were expecting the strong Hezbollah coalition to win.
Do you see this as a game-changer in the Middle East peace process?
Will it only cause unrest as an outcome of shifting power?
How should the U.S. proceed from here in the grander scheme of Middle Eastern politics?
What should Israel do?
Or is this just business as usual?
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Last edited by Baraka_Guru; 06-08-2009 at 06:02 AM..
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