Lebanese ruling (pro-Western) coalition claims poll victory

[jefferson_dem]

Source: BBC

Lebanese ruling coalition claims poll victory


Saad Hariri said "the only winner is democracy in Lebanon"

The leader of Lebanon's governing pro-Western coalition has claimed victory over a Hezbollah-led bloc in a tight parliamentary election.

Saad Hariri said his 14 March alliance would retain its majority in the 128-member parliament.

A politician close to the Hezbollah-led bloc, supported by Syria and Iran, admitted defeat in Sunday's elections, Reuters news agency reported.

Official results are due on Monday. Turnout was put at more than 52%.

"Congratulations to you, congratulations to freedom, congratulations to democracy," Mr Hariri told a crowd of his cheering supporters in the capital Beirut.

"There is no winner and loser in these elections, the only winner is democracy and Lebanon," he added.

Mr Hariri's coalition was expected to win 70 seats in the new assembly, while the Hezbollah alliance would get 58 seats, Mr Hariri's Future TV station predicted.

Christian vote

An unnamed senior politician close to the Hezbollah-led bloc told Reuters: "We have lost the election. We accept the result as the will of the people."

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8088410.stm

[Taverner]

1. Good. Any other outcome would end in tragedy, all over.

[ohio2007]

5. Carter fears Lebanese election results will not be accepted

Beirut - Former US President Jimmy Carter, who is heading the Carter Centre observation mission to the Lebanese parliamentary elections, said Sunday he does not fear the elections' outcome but 'fears the possibility that people will not accept their outcome in a friendly spirit.'During a tour of a polling station in the capital Beirut, Carter told reporters that 'he had called certain American officials on Saturday, who confirmed that US President Barack Obama and his administration will accept what the Lebanese people decide.'

He added that he hoped the elections will take place without any intervention and in a democratic way. The vote raises the possibility that the Hezbollah-led coalition will win outright, creating a situation where the Lebanese government would be led by an organization that the EU and the US consider as a terrorist group.

The voting started at 7 am (0400 GMT) in some 5,200 polling stations across Lebanon. The polls are scheduled to close at 7 pm (1600 GMT).

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1481864.php/Carter_fears_Lebanese_election_results_will_not_be_accepted__Extra__#ixzz0HnRbt7Pb&D


Simple question is, will all sides accept these results as fair ? Don't need another 'Cedar Revolution'.

up next is irans fair and open elections but I do not know if Jimmy Carter has been invited in to oversee them.

Iran's presidential candidate seeks votes by campaigning with wife

Iranian presidential candidate Mir-Hussein Mousavi and his wife Zaghra Rahnavard on a campaign rally
in the north western Iranian city of Tabriz Photo: NEWSHA TAVAKOLIAN
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/5462989/Irans-presidential-candidate-seeks-votes-by-campaigning-with-wife.html

[The Stranger]

8. That article wrongly states that the EU considers Hezbollah to be a terrorist group.

The EU does not.

[Thrill]

2. Obama's speech tipped the election

:)

[jefferson_dem]

3. I like that talking point...

and it's probably the truth.

[ohio2007]

4. How will this result sit with the minority ?

Lebanese election: Hizbollah fails to win majority as pro-Western coalition wins narrow margin

Hizbollah suffered a rebuff in its efforts to gain an overall majority in Lebanon's parliament on Sunday after a high turnout upset predictions in a peaceful general election.
The Iranian-backed organisation, which America and Britain consider a terrorist group, vied with a pro-Western coalition for control of the country’s 128-seat parliament. The election was so tightly fought that some parties paid for thousands of voters to return from overseas.


snip

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/lebanon/5471667/Lebanese-election-Hizbollah-fails-to-win-majority-as-pro-Western-coalition-wins-narrow-margin.html

Time will tell if the results will stand without a fight

[saigon68]

6. Let the Assassinations/Car Bombings Begin

Cue the C-4 and Semtex operatives


Time will tell if the results will stand without a fight

[Chulanowa]

9. Given that the Hezbollah block conceded?

pretty sure that it'll stand just fine.

But keep hoping, if you like.

[ohio2007]

13. It's good to know the assassinations of political leaders are over in the foreseeable future

wow, Because of what politicians say on the record in public should always be taken at face value ? ok, good for you.
You can keep on hoping that will be the case but as you know, they want veto power over ay decision made. What will they do when it's denied in the coming months ? Give up the part of Beirut they occupied by force ?

If the will of the people wants them to disarm, will they force their will on the people ?

[Chulanowa]

19. They have green blood and tails, too!

Evil muslim motherfuckers. I'll bet they rape and eat babies too, don't they?

[Alamuti Lotus]

20. I think your sarcasm was lost on them..

the keyboard crusader brigade was probably nodding along furiously with that, you should probably let them know it was not serious at some point..

[ohio2007]

21. Hezbullah would cease to exist if the Israeli-'Palestinian' conflict were resolved

Your hate dream teams are losing by voters choice.
If only your monkey puppet gets blindsided tomorrow, it'll be a hat trick for your hate mongers

Fear of Iran, Obama's words swayed Lebanon vote

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090610/D98NVI4G0.html

Guess things didn't pan out like you hoped they would .

Deal with it,

[ohio2007]

22. Evil muslim motherfuckers ???? Shouldn't you get back to your freep board

You one of those types that "fear women" ?



you and bubba hate women don't you ?

[Chulanowa]

24. Boy, you change your tune quick!

One minute you're blathering about how of course Lebanon's going to descend into civil strife, because... because... Well, actually you never gave a reason, wink wink nudge nudge. Now you're getting all defensive about how awesome this election was, and how we're the ones who are disappointed, even though you were practically drooling with the hope that somebody would be throwing bombs.

Glad to see you've changed your mind and have become, perhaps, optimistic about the political situation in Lebanon. Perhaps someday you'll even overcome the general ignorance you display regarding the involved parties! Won't that be something?

[bluesmail]

7. Elections have consequences. It's a scary time. It's an unknown future

for planet earth.

[rollin74]

10. excellent

a nice defeat for Iran and Syria at the ballot box

[Alamuti Lotus]

11. a victory for corrupt billionaires, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and bin Laden

and y'all cheer -- bah.

[SpartanDem]

12. You wanted Hezbollah to win?

Let me guess you also root for Taliban and AL Queda

[Alamuti Lotus]

15. al-Qai'dah, of sorts, is part of the winning March 14 coalition

But yes and no, I do favour the Hizbu'llah/Aounist bloc. Not to 'win', necessarily, but favour anyway. To explain this possible dichotomy, there is one major point that I will make at this time -- what defeat really? Hizbu'llah soundly swept all 11 seats they had directly contested. By the actions of Sayyid Nasrallah and his deputy Naim Qassim, it is clear that the Opposition (sans Gen. Aoun, who is seriously pissed off at this time) barely veiled their intention to remain 'Opposition'; they are better suited for it anyway. The major point being, respectability and becoming The Man is the spiritual death of any decent underground revolutionary party, if it is not dead already by that time.

That aside, the cowardly threats and extortion carried out by Joe Biden and Jeffrey Feldman, while typical of US policy in the region, must be condemned. But it won't, it is no surprise that there is as much an ignorance on international affairs on display as there often is on domestic matters.

[New Dawn]

14. Muslims make up nearly 60% of Lebanon's population, yet...

They only get 42% of the seats in Lebanon's government (seats are determined by sect). This election was definitely not fair in any sense.

[ohio2007]

16. You are saying all Sunni and Shia muslims need to lock step to one group that "wields a plank"

that is all encompassing and the individual "profiles" as you call them living in the splintered neighborhoods are supposed to support only one brand of thought ideology ?

2009 Parliament

March 14 ; 71 seats

March 8 ; 57 seats






and the breakdown;
district by splintered district
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=97404&MID=115&PID=2

Maybe some "profiles" still wish the French were running the colony.
You should listen to what Lebanese say, not what your flavor of media leads you to think

Meanwhile, Hizballah has already started to threaten those Lebanese who have proven
their dedication to ensuring the country stays on the the path to sovereignty
http://blacksmithsoflebanon.blogspot.com/

What was lost in Tiananmen

is

Maybe some of those muslims don't want to lockstep ?

[New Dawn]

17. Lebanon's seats are determined in advance by sect, that is not democratic.

So, before the election occurred, Muslims were only allotted a combined 42% of the seats even though they make up 60% of the population. The fact that US corporate media is singing praises to these inherently undemocratic elections speaks volumes. Lebanon should use proportional representation and party-lists instead, like modern republics do, and NOT by sect.

[Alamuti Lotus]

18. Yes, the 1960 election law..

Yes, it's just ridiculous. The Christians are given 50% of seats out of the gates, even though they're about 40% (or less now, as many suspect in leiu of something radical like a new census..) of the population. The real majority of the population (Shiites) are completely shafted by the system, and then extorted and bullied by the likes of Obama/Biden/Feldman/Netanyahoo but the latter are merely "encouraging a new era freedom"..

At any rate, the US corporate media don't know shit from shinola (a reference I rarely get to work into a sentence, had to dust it off) when it comes to these things. It refers to as a "Secular, Pro-Western alliance" something that includes the heirs of the Original Middle East Nazi Pierre Gemayal (sectarian fanatics and the pioneer of the carbomb Samir Gaegea and the next generation of the Gemayyal tribe, which simultaneously claimed that this election was the first that wasn't about family names and sectarian distinctions -- really, it's all about freedom and puppies and stuff!), bin Ladenite kooks and former Zarqawi apparatus, corrupt billionaires practically owned by Saudi Arabia, Walid Jumblatt--there isn't enough time to write how politically scisophrenic and demented this feudalist warlord is.. ugh. All just a small example of what's so wrong with the PR being swallowed like candy.

[ohio2007]

23. How about the cacus system in the US ? Is that really democratic? nt