(CNN) Fewer than half of registered voters turned up to cast their ballots in Lebanon's first parliamentary election in nine years Sunday, according to the country's interior minister. As votes were being counted, Lebanon's Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk gave a televised press conference in which he lamented the turnout, which was lower than the 54% recorded in the 2009 election. Lebanese officials count votes at a polling center in Beirut after polling stations closed for Lebanon's first parliamentary elections in nine years on May 6, 2018. Earlier in the day, Lebanese President Michel Aoun tweeted: "I was surprised by the low turnout and the exercise of the right to vote. Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shia group, is the most powerful bloc in the election.

Source: CNN May 06, 2018 23:42 UTC