Lebanese general election, 2005

The 2005 Lebanese General Elections were the first elections in thirty years without a Syrian military or intelligence presence in Lebanon. The Lebanese elected 128 MPs, with equal representation for Christians and Muslims. Many Lebanese felt that the elections, which were won by an anti-Syrian coalition led by Saad Hariri, constituted the end of the Cedar Revolution. These elections were the first in Lebanese history to be won outright by a single electoral block and were also the first to be monitored by the United Nations [United Nations, October 26, 2005 [http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=S/2005/673 S/2005/673 Letter dated 26 October 2005 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council] Accessed August 5, 2006]

Results

First round

The first round was held on May 29, 2005 in Beirut. The Rafik Hariri Martyr List, a coalition of Saad Hariri's Current for the Future, the Progressive Socialist Party and other anti-Syrian parties, won all 19 seats. Saad Hariri is the son of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri who was assassinated in February 2005, in a car bombing in Beirut. The coalition left one seat free for a Shiite candidate from Hezbollah.

econd round

The second round was held on June 5 in South Lebanon and Nabatyeh Governorate. The Resistance and Development Bloc, a joint ticket by the two main Shiite parties Amal and Hezbollah, in addition to Bahiya Al-Hariri, the sister of the assassinated late Prime Minister Rafic Al-Hariri and Oussama Saad from Sidon, won all 23 seats. Official tallies showed the Resistance and Development Bloc receiving more than 80% of the vote. The head of Amal, Nabih Berri, said in a news conference held in Mosseileh: "The South has declared clearly and before international observers its backing for the resistance as a path for the past, present and future." Berri said the elected MPs would not let Hezbollah be disarmed.

Third round

The third round was held on June 12 in Beqaa and Mount Lebanon. In Mount Lebanon the Hariri List won 17 seats, as did the Aoun Alliance, made up of Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement and two smaller parties; Hezbollah won one. In Beqaa, the Resistance and Development Bloc won 11 seats, the Hariri List eight, and the Aoun Alliance four. Aoun re-stamped his authority as a major Christian leader on the political scene.

Fourth round

The fourth and final round was held on June 20 in North Governorate. The Hariri List won all 28 seats, giving them a total of 72 of the National Assembly's 128 seats.

Total

Turnout

In the first round of the elections, the turnout was only 28%. In the second round of the elections which Hezbollah and Amal easily won, the turnout was between 43 and 55%.

Notes

ee also

List of Lebanese Members of Parliament

External links

* [http://www.angus-reid.com/tracker/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewItem&itemID=6962 Angus Reid Consultants - Election Tracker]
* [http://www.stephanrauch.com/site/details.php?image_id=2&sessionid=9f7f2a240f3d292d111f3af2742c5c12 Documentary photography project on Lebanon during the time leading up to the 2005 elections by Austrian Photojournalist Stephan Rauch]