Lebanon goes to the polls today

BEIRUT: Lebanon elects its parliament for the first time in nine years on Sunday, with its ruling parties seeking to preserve a fragile power-sharing arrangement despite regional tensions. The Hizbullah movement and its allies could stand to dominate parliament and reinforce their clout in Lebanon, a small country clamped between war-torn Syria and Israel. A new voting system has raised some hope for an unprecedented civil society list to make a small dent in the decades-old monopoly of political dynasties but disillusionment is rife in the electorate. The triumvirate heading the state is unlikely to change, with parliament speaker Nabih Berri almost certain to keep the post he has held since 1992 and Prime Minister Saad Hariri also set to stay put.

President Michel Aoun’s position is not up for renewal on May 6 but his party is a key player in a dizzying game of alliances which leads allies in one district to be enemies in another. Hizbullah is allied both to Berri and Aoun and is expected to chip at the camp led by Hariri’s movement. “Hizbullah and its allies will be the first beneficiaries” of the new electoral law, said pollster Kamal Feghali. A clear win for Hizbullah could further fray the nerves of Israel and Washington. “These three forces will directly or indirectly be at the helm” after the vote, said Sami Atallah, director of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies. — AFP