In Lebanon's parliament, Hezbollah and its allies lose their majority. Earth Situation News

 In Lebanon's parliament, Hezbollah and its allies lose their majority. 

Monday, May 16, 2022, at the interior ministry in Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Malawi, Centre, talks at a news conference about Sunday's parliamentary elections. The terrorist Hezbollah party and its supporters lost seats in Lebanon's parliamentary elections this weekend, with preliminary results showing some of its most vociferous opponents winning more seats and some of their old friends being voted out. (Hassan Ammar/AP Photo) 

BEIRUT — Final election results indicated Tuesday that Lebanon's terrorist Hezbollah organization and its allies lost their parliamentary majority, while more than a dozen independent newcomers gained seats. The result marked a turning point in a country beset by an enduring financial crisis and rising poverty. 

Official election results revealed that no single political party had a clear majority. This points to a fractured and politicized parliament, with pro- and anti-Hezbollah legislators clashing, making it impossible to establish a new administration and pass badly needed reforms. 

In the 128-member assembly, the Hezbollah-led alliance gained 61 seats, down 10 from the last election four years earlier. It was not thought that the Iran-backed group's dominance in Lebanese politics would wane as a result of its political partners' defeats. Hezbollah's 13 candidates were all elected. 

Nonetheless, the results were hailed as a big victory for anti-Hezbollah and other prominent political parties responsible for the country's downfall, introducing more new independent faces than expected. 

The nationalist Christian Lebanese Forces party, Hezbollah's most vociferous opponent, came out on top. Its Christian competitor, President Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, has suffered a political defeat. Hezbollah's ally is the Free Patriotic Movement. 

With 21 members in parliament, the Lebanese Forces have surpassed the Free Patriotic Movement, which now has 18 MPs, down three seats from the last election. 

  

Despite the defeat, Hezbollah and its primary Shiite ally, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri's Amal faction, maintained the 27 Shiite seats allocated to the sect. 

14 seats were won by independents and newcomers, including members of the 2019 protest movement. Given that they went into the election divided and under intimidation and threats from established mainstream parties, this was a significant accomplishment. 

  

Their victory sends a powerful message to ruling-class lawmakers who have clung to their positions for decades despite the country's economic collapse, which has devastated the country and sparked the largest wave of emigration since the 1975-1990 civil war. 

With two key blocs — Hezbollah and the Lebanese Forces — at odds, observers predict greater stagnation and increased tension in the new political landscape at a time when unity is required. 

  

"The following step will be challenging," political expert Youssef Diab said. The creation of a new government, negotiating a contract with the International Monetary Fund, crafting an economic recovery plan, and settling on a new president in the autumn are all hurdles, he said. 

"All of them are tense issues, and Hezbollah will raise every one of them," Diab added. 

  

Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General, urged for the "quick creation of an inclusive government" that can finish an agreement with the IMF and speed up reforms needed to get Lebanon back on track. 

Current Earth Situation Update of Hezbollah and its allies lose their majority

Hezbollah's supporters with close ties to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime suffered the worst losses. Deputy parliament speaker Elie Feroli, Druze politician Talal Arslan, who had held a seat for three decades, Asaad Hardan, and Faisal Karami, the son of late Premier Omar Karami, are among those who have resigned. 

 In Lebanon's parliament, Hezbollah and its allies lose their majority. 

  

The first parliamentary elections since Lebanon's economic crisis began in late 2019 were held on Sunday. The government's factions have done almost little to solve the crisis, leaving Lebanese to fend for themselves without electricity, medication, garbage collection, or any other sort of normalcy. 

The election is also the first after a fatal explosion at Beirut's harbor in August 2020, which killed over 200 people, injured hundreds more, and destroyed areas of the city. 

  

"The results reflect that the Lebanese mood is against this governing elite as well as the political alignment with Iran," stated Wissam Raji of the Lebanese Forces. "The Lebanese understand that the situation has deteriorated, and that the solution does not lie in the hands of the governing elite."