TYRE,
June 5, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Voters in south
Lebanon flocked to the polling stations on Sunday, June 5, to cast
their ballots in the second round of parliamentary elections, with a
powerful pro-resistance Shiite coalition seen dominating the polls.
"I
voted for Hizbullah and Amal because they protect us and stand in the
face of the Israelis and Americans," Hussein Awada, leaving a
polling station in the port city of Tyre, told Reuters.
Samira
Mezher, 60, voting in the Shiite market town of Nabatiyeh agreed.
"Only
the resistance freed us from Israel," he said.
The
"Resistance, Liberation and Development" coalition of the
resistance group Hizbullah and Shiite movement Amal is expected to win
the 23 seats up for grabs in the south, with a pledge to pursue armed
resistance to liberate the occupied Sheba Farms from the Israeli
occupation.
A
total of 665,385 voters, aged over 21, are eligible to cast ballot to
elect 23 MPs in the south's two constituencies. Voting ends at 6:00 pm
(1500 GMT).
Sunday's
vote is the second round of a four-phase election being held over
consecutive Sundays.
The
first stage of the legislative polls was won by a coalition championed
by Saad Hariri, the son of slain former premier Rafiq Hariri whose
assassination in a February bomb blast unleashed a massive political
upheaval in Lebanon and is a major factor in the elections.
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.
Victory
Guaranteed
Interior
Minister Hassan Al-Sabaa said turnout among the 675,000 eligible
voters in the south was "good".
Voting
got off to a slow start as the Amal-Hizbollah alliance was guaranteed
victory.
Three
hours after polling stations opened, turnout appeared to be heavier in
Shiite regions than in Christian and Sunni regions, according to
Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondents.
In
one polling station in the village of Ain Ebel, only three out of 420
registered voters had cast their ballots while in Rmeish just three
out of 330 had decided to participate, an AFP correspondent said.
Six
candidates from the Hizbullah-Amal list have already been elected by
default, including Bahia Hariri, sister of the slain former premier.
An
Amal-Hizbullah alliance won a landslide in the south in the last
general election in 2000, only months after Hizbullah's heroic
resistance operations forced Israel to withdraw from south Lebanon in
2000 after 22 years of occupation.
Hizbullah
has 12 members in the present 128-seat assembly.
Vote
for Resistance
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An election banner shows Hizbullah chief Nasrallah shaking hand with Amal leader Berri. (Reuters)
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"Voters
are affirming with their votes that they will protect the resistance
as the resistance protected the nation with its weapons and
bullets," said Sheikh Nabil Qaouq, Hizbollah's top official in
southern Lebanon.
Hours
before the polls opened, banners urged voters to choose the
Amal-Hizbullah ticket as a rejection of international pressure to
disarm Hizbullah.
"Your
vote is resistance," read a banner in the largely Sunni Muslim
port city of Sidon, where both seats had already been won by default,
Reuters said.
"Your
vote is a bullet in the enemy's chest," read another.
On
the eve of the polls, Amal leader and parliament speaker Nabih Berri
urged voters to turn out in force, after a feeble showing marred the
first phase of polling in Beirut last week.
"Participate
heavily in these elections," he said. "There is a real
battle ... beware of this and do not sleep on silk."
Hizbullah
and Amal supporters clad in the groups' yellow and green colors drove
around some towns blaring patriotic songs and canvassing votes.
On
central squares in southern cities, effigies of US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice was erected by Hizbullah supporters, with
prescription glasses printed with the Star of David and with a ballot
box.
Hizbullah
officials have repeatedly accused the Bush administration of meddling
in Lebanon's domestic affairs, including the electoral process.
A
US-drafted UN Security Council resolution passed last September
calling for disarming all armed groups in Lebanon, a clear reference
to Hizbullah which Washington designate as a terrorist group.
"Vote
no for Bush, vote yes for (Hizbullah chief) Sheikh Hassan
Nasrallah," said one sticker.
