BEIRUT, (HRNW) – Iran-backed Hezbollah has been dealt a blow in Lebanon s parliamentary election with preliminary results showing losses for some of its oldest allies and the Saudi-aligned Lebanese Forces party declaring significant gains.
With votes still being counted, the final results have yet to emerge for the first election since Lebanon s devastating economic meltdown and a huge port explosion in 2020 that shattered Beirut.
The heavily armed Shi ite Muslim group Hezbollah and its allies won 71 of parliament s 128 seats when Lebanon last voted in 2018, but whether they can cling on to a majority hinges on results not yet finalised – including Sunni Muslim seats.
Results declared point to a more fragmented parliament sharply polarised between allies and opponents of Hezbollah, an outcome analysts said could lead to deadlock as factions hash out a powersharing deal over top state positions.
“If the deals of the past are dead, what kind of politics do we have apart from more sectarian tensions and a replay of some of the clashes we have seen?” said Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center.
While the 2018 vote pulled Lebanon deeper into the orbit of Shi ite Muslim-led Iran, this result could open the door for Sunni Muslim-led Saudi Arabia to exercise greater sway in a country that has long been an arena of its rivalry with Tehran, he added.
Be the first to comment on "Lebanon vote deals blow to Hezbollah, preliminary results show"