Lebanon: Hezbollah-Amal in lead from Sunday elections

BEIRUT

The political coalition of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement is leading in preliminary results from Sunday's Lebanese general elections.

The coalition is ahead of President Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement and Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Future Movement, according to preliminary results Anadolu Agency gathered on Monday from sources at various parties.

Current results indicate the Hezbollah-Amal coalition will seize more than 34 seats out of 128.

Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement is expected to come in second place with at least 26 seats.

This suggests a potential coalition government formed by the Hezbollah-Amal coalition and the Free Patriotic Movement.

Meanwhile, Hariri’s Future Movement is expected to claim at least 18 seats.

The results also indicated more gains for the Lebanese Forces party lead by Samir Geagea with 15 seats.

In an unprecedented move, civil society broke with the traditional political mainstream as seven independent candidates, including five women, won seats in parliament.

Sunday saw Lebanon’s first parliamentary elections in nine years with a low turnout of 49.20 percent.

The polls witnessed a total of 917 candidates from several political parties vying for 128 seats -- 64 for Muslims and 64 for Christians -- in the national assembly.

The voting was held under a new proportional system, which divides the country into 15 separate electoral constituencies.

Official results of the polls are expected to be announced later on Monday by Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk, according to local media.

Reporting by Wassim Seifeddine:Writing by Mahmoud Barakat