Lebanese majority wins Lebanese elections (1st Lead)

Jun 7, 2009, 21:28 GMT

Beirut - Lebanon's Western-backed majority won Sunday a crucial parliamentary election that pitted them against the Hezbollah-led opposition, a close aide of the head of the majority alliance Saad Hariri told the German Press Agency dpa.

An interior ministry source confirmed that the Hezbollah-led opposition, which is supported by Syria and Iran, has lost the elections.

A source close to Hezbollah confirmed to dpa that they have lost the elections and they 'will accept the results as it is.'

Telecommunications Minister Jubran Bassil, son-in-law to Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun, also confirmed the opposition had lost.

'At the end this a democratic election and we will accept the loss,' he added.

Shortly after the initial results were out, cars carrying the flags of the majority alliance roamed Beirut streets chanting 'God bless Hariri and the ruling majority.'

Interior ministry sources said the turnout was around between 55 and 65 per cent, with polling in Christian areas said to be higher than in Muslim districts.

Ahead of the polls Christians feared that their role in the country could be marginalized if the opposition was to win a majority in the 128-seat parliament.

Throughout the day long queues formed outside many polling stations. Supporters of rival leaders clad in their different T- shirts handed out lists of candidates and called on voters to cast their ballots.

Hezbollah's coalition includes the Shiite movement Amal and the group led by Aoun, while the majority is headed by Sunni Muslim leader Saad Hariri, who is allied with several Christian groups and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt.

The Hezbollah-led opposition is backed by Syria and Iran while the ruling majority is strongly supported by the United States and other western countries as well as Saudi Arabia.

The ruling majority won the last elections in 2005 after the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri. The majority has faced difficulties in ruling the country due to the strong opposition of Hezbollah and its allies.

Former US President Jimmy Carter, who headed a team of international observers during the vote, called on all Lebanese to accept the result of the vote.

'I don't have any concerns over the conduct of the elections. I have concerns over the acceptance of the results by all the major parties,' Carter said after visiting a polling station in Beirut.

Under Lebanon's complex power-sharing system, the 128 seats are divided equally between Muslims and Christians.