Hezbollah was poised to seal its dominance of Lebanon Monday with results for the country’s first general election this decade expected to confirm the Iran-backed party as the main winner. The polls were also marked by a low turnout of 49.2 percent and the emergence of a civil society movement challenging Lebanon’s oligarchs was set to clinch a pair of seats in parliament. The number of Hezbollah MPs in the 128-seat parliament may not increase but astute pre-electoral tactics have secured it enough allies to withstand political challenges on strategic issues. Hezbollah members were accused over the 2005 assassination of Hariri’s father Rafiq, a charismatic former prime minister. Hezbollah will benefit from the lack of a broad coalition against it,” political analyst Imad Salamey said.

Source: The Guardian May 07, 2018 09:11 UTC