Victory of Saad Hariri's Supported List in Beirut Municipal Elections

The list supported by Saad Hariri, the former Prime Minister of Lebanon, and candidates from key Lebanese parties won in the local municipal elections in Beirut. The leader of this coalition announced on Monday, May 8, that the challenge initiated by the independents, which had angered voters due to political paralysis in Lebanon, did not succeed. Reports from Lebanese media indicate a preliminary victory for the list known as 'Beirutis,' led by Jamal Itani. This list has the support of established groups as well as the 'Future Movement of Sunni Muslims' led by Saad Hariri. For the first time in six years, Lebanese voters participated in the local municipal elections in eastern Lebanon on Sunday under strict security measures. Local media reported a voter turnout of 20 percent in these elections. According to Reuters, Tamam Salam, the Prime Minister of Lebanon, attributed the low voter turnout to the uncertain political climate in the country. In an interview with the newspaper Al-Safir, he stated, 'People did not believe that elections would take place, and therefore they were not prepared.' The parliamentary elections that were supposed to be held in 2013 have been postponed twice due to political instability exacerbated by the war in Syria. Municipal elections in other parts of Lebanon are scheduled to take place in two weeks. The group 'Beirut Madinati' or 'Beirut, My City,' which emerged last summer amid the government's failure to resolve the urban waste crisis that had engulfed Beirut for a while, also failed to achieve success. The 'Beirut, My City' campaign announced that the increasing momentum of this movement, which has quickly attracted public attention and represents a new challenge for this group in the political scene of Lebanon, is considered a significant victory for them. According to Reuters, Ms. Nadine Labaki, a 42-year-old actress and director from Lebanon, the leader of 'Beirut Madinati,' told the 'New' television that the new atmosphere created in Beirut and among the youth, and 'the hope for a Beirut that is our dream, is what we have achieved, and this is a victory.' An election monitoring group reported a significant increase in violations compared to the 2010 elections, including vote buying, violence, and reports of interference by a government official to assist their preferred party. The 'Lebanese Democratic Elections Association' stated that 647 cases of electoral violations were recorded in Beirut and the Bekaa Valley. In contrast, 314 violations were recorded in these two regions during the 2010 elections. This monitoring group also noted that the standards of the local elections on Sunday had significantly decreased, and many polling stations were unable to carry out their tasks, leading to chaos during the transfer of ballot boxes and counting of votes.