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Saad Hariri, left, receives congratulations after the sweep. (Reuters)
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BEIRUT, May 30, 2005 (IslamOnline.net
& News Agencies) - The electoral list of the son of slain former
premier Rafiq Hariri won all 19 parliamentary seats in the Beirut
round of Lebanon's four-stage general elections, according to official
results announced on Monday, May 30.
Saad Hariri's slate easily won in all
three constituencies in the capital where 19 seats were up for grabs,
Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa told a press conference, reported
Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Hariri's success is widely seen as a
vote for his father whose February killing in a Beirut bomb blast
triggered a major political upheaval in Lebanon.
Saad himself, a 35-year-old
businessman and the anointed successor of his slain billionaire
father, obtained 39,499 votes, the largest number in all the
constituencies.
Hariri's slate won nine seats by
default after rivals failed to appear or dropped out.
UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen
congratulated Lebanon for conducting the first round of polling
successfully.
"These elections ... represent a
significant step for the Lebanese people in their quest for recovering
their full political independence and sovereignty," he said in a
statement.
Beirut was the first region to go to
the polls. Another three rounds are being held over consecutive
Sundays in other areas of Lebanon.
The elections are set to redraw
Lebanon's political map and among the major challenges facing the new
parliament is redefining ties with Syria on a more balanced basis,
Reuters said.
Lebanon has some three million
eligible voters, 59 percent Muslim and 41 percent Christian, who will
be contesting 128 parliamentary seats to be shared equally by the
Christian and Muslim communities.
The elections follow two political
earthquakes in Lebanon - Hariri's assassination and the withdrawal of
Syrian troops after 29-year presence.
Celebrations
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Hariri jubilant supporters celebrate the resounding victory. (Reuters)
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"This victory is for Rafiq Al-Hariri.
Today Beirut showed its loyalty to Rafiq Al-Hariri," he told a
crowd celebrating outside his villa in the capital, according to
Reuters.
"Today is a victory for
democracy ... freedom and sovereignty."
Thousands of jubilant supporters
drove through the streets, honking car horns and flying Lebanese flags
as fireworks lit the night sky over Beirut's center, rebuilt by the
slain Hariri from the ruins of the 1975-1990 civil war.
Cars flashing the blue flags of
Hariri's Future Current roamed the streets of the capital, with
activists honking and chanting slogans to the beat of drums.
The boisterous nighttime celebrations
-- many hours before any official results were to be announced -- bore
witness to the confidence of Hariri's supporters after a one-sided
first stage in Lebanon's month-long election process.
Dozens of Hariri followers gathered
in front of his residence to chant slogans hailing Harir.
They were joined by followers of the
outlawed Christian Lebanese Forces party who converged on the Hariri
residence.
"Muslims and Christians,
national reconciliation," chanted the Hariri and LF followers in
unison.
But the celebrations did not proceed
peacefully. Supporters of a losing leftist list clashed with fists and
stones with followers of a Druze winner in the poll celebrating the
victory.
Shots were also fired in the air
during the scuffles, but no one was hurt, a security source told
Reuters.
Low Turnout
The interior minister put turnout at
28 percent.
The capital had a 34 percent turnout
in 2000, when slain Hariri also swept the board.
"Why should I vote when the
result is already decided?" Abdul-Rahman Itani, in his 40s, told
Reuters.
Hariri's alliance with Druze leader
Walid Jumblatt and some Christian foes of Syria is intact, but Michel
Aoun, a fierce opponent of Syria just back from exile, was left out in
the cold. His followers had urged people to shun the polls.
Yet the Hariri-Jumblatt front has
also made deals with the main Shiite alliance.
Hariri's Beirut ticket included a
Hizbullah candidate.
The joint Amal-Hizbullah list in the
south embraces Bahiya al-Hariri, the slain leader's sister.
"I voted because I believe in
change," said Basil Eid, 27.
"We want Lebanon free of any
subordination. We have to rule ourselves by ourselves."
For the first time, foreign observers
monitored the polls, with a team of more than 100 led by the European
Union.
