Lebanon seemed headed for a major political upheaval yesterday as opposition candidates scored a stunning success in the second stage of parliamentary elections in Beirut. The Prime Minister, Dr Selim Hoss, was among those who lost his seat.
Last night supporters of Mr Rafiq Hariri, Lebanon's prime minister from 1992 to 1998, were already dancing in the streets and declaring him the victor.
About 45 per cent of the 1.4 million voters registered in the capital, the south and the eastern Bekaa valley yesterday chose 65 deputies from a field of 209 candidates. Last Sunday candidates allied to the opposition's main force, the billionaire contractor, Mr Hariri won one-third of the 63 seats contested in the north and Mount Lebanon.
On Friday Syria, the powerbroker in Lebanon, extended its support to Mr Hariri who is reported to have spent $50 million on a bruising campaign to trounce Dr Hoss. Mr Hariri is determined to return to power despite major differences with the President, Mr Emile Lahoud.
It is ironic that Dr Hoss should be ousted before he could repair the damage done to the country's economy by Mr Hariri's grandiose reconstruction projects which ran up a $20 billion debt and produced rampant corruption.
The Interior Minister, Mr Michel al-Murr, said final results would be announced tonight at the earliest.
The Shia Muslim Hizbullah movement, credited by a majority of Lebanese with liberating the southern border zone from Israeli occupation, also did well. Although Hizbullah might well have captured a majority of the 28 Shia seats, the movement, at the behest of Syria and Iran, concluded an alliance with the rival Shia Amal party, put forward only nine candidates and instructed supporters to vote for three Maronite Catholics.
Some violence marred yesterday's vote. A man was stabbed by rival supporters in Beirut and eyewitnesses in the Bekaa said four polling agents had been wounded in a gun battle in which the army had taken part.
Analysts say Damascus will keep its grip on Lebanon regardless of the poll's outcome, but that Syrian President Bashar alAssad, who took office after his father Hafez died in June, wants to give Beirut a little more leeway.
