Daily Star (Beirut/June 20): Lebanon's opposition claims election victory

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From the Daily Star (Beirut)
Dated Monday June 20

Lebanon's opposition claims victory
Hariri-led anti-Syrian alliance secures parliamentary majority in decisive North Lebanon poll
By Nayla Assaf

Beirut: Lebanon's anti-Syrian opposition looked set to win outright control of Parliament last night in the decisive final round of the country's first elections free of Syrian control in almost 30 years. Early indications from North Lebanon showed the united list of Saad Hariri, the son of murdered former Premier Rafik Hariri, had won enough seats to secure a majority in Parliament for his united opposition grouping.

Leading opposition politician Boutros Harb said: "According to incomplete results, we are heading for a total victory."

The anti-Syrian opposition needed to secure at least 21 of the 28 seats up for grabs in yesterday's poll to have a parliamentary majority. But it remains unclear whether the opposition will have the two-thirds majority required to end to the term of Lebanon's pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, who still has a further two years in office after a controversial Damascus-inspired extension last September which was the catalyst for the uniting the country's opposition groupings.

The coalition had already won 44 seats in Lebanon's 128-member Parliament in previous rounds since the election process began on May 29.

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