{"id":3990,"date":"2018-05-06T23:42:10","date_gmt":"2018-05-06T23:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/noti-america.com\/site\/alemania\/?p=3990"},"modified":"2018-05-06T23:42:10","modified_gmt":"2018-05-06T23:42:10","slug":"lebanese-vote-in-first-general-election-in-nine-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noti-america.com\/site\/principal\/2018\/05\/06\/lebanese-vote-in-first-general-election-in-nine-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Lebanese vote in first general election in nine years"},"content":{"rendered":"
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BEIRUT \u00a0– Lebanese voted in their first general election for nine years on Sunday, with the Tehran-backed Hezbollah group and its allies expecting to emerge stronger, a result that would affirm Iran\u2019s regional ascendancy from its own borders to the Mediterranean.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Sunni Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri is frontrunner to keep his job and form a new coalition government after an election seen as vital to Lebanon\u2019s economic stability, but his Future Movement was widely expected to lose seats.<\/p>\n

For many younger Lebanese, Sunday brought a first chance to vote in a national election after parliament twice extended a term that expired in 2013, but Interior Ministry figures from early in the day suggested turnout would be low.<\/p>\n

President Michel Aoun appeared on television late in the afternoon to urge people to vote. Voting ended at 7 p.m. to all except those already waiting in polling stations.<\/p>\n

Although the election used a new proportional system, many voters said they expected the country\u2019s entrenched, sectarian elite to remain on top but others were optimistic.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe hope we will open a new era,\u201d said Mahmoud Daouk, voting in Beirut in one of the areas where new faces were taking on the old sectarian elite.<\/p>\n

Party flags flew from cars and mopeds, loudspeakers blared campaign songs and young people wore T-shirts bearing the faces of political leaders.<\/p>\n

The vote was held under a new proportional system that has confused some voters and made the contest more unpredictable.<\/p>\n

But it still preserves a sectarian power-sharing system and another coalition government including most of the major parties, like the one Hariri has led since 2016, looks likely, analysts say.<\/p>\n

While foreign monitors gave a generally positive assessment, tensions flared in several locations. Missiles were thrown during street clashes in Beirut, a candidate claimed her car was attacked in the Bekaa Valley town of Zahle, and rival groups clashed in the northern city of Tripoli.<\/p>\n

HIGH DEBT<\/h3>\n

Investors are keen to see a government in place quickly as a guarantee of economic stability. Lebanon has one of the world\u2019s highest debt-to-GDP ratios and the International Monetary Fund has said its fiscal trajectory is unsustainable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe situation is actually worse now, not better … we lost the chance to hold them accountable nine years ago,\u201d said Fatima Kibbi, 33, a pharmacist.<\/p>\n

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Informal results are expected to start coming in overnight and official tallies in the coming days.<\/p>\n

Analysts are closely watching the performance of Hariri\u2019s Future Movement party and that of the Shi\u2019ite Hezbollah group and its allies.<\/p>\n

Iran and Saudi Arabia have often battled for influence in Lebanon as part of their wider regional rivalry. An anti-Hezbollah alliance led by Hariri and backed by Saudi Arabia won the majority in 2009.<\/p>\n

But the anti-Hezbollah alliance known as March 14 has disintegrated since then and Riyadh has turned its focus and resources to confronting Iran in other parts of the region.<\/p>\n

Though Hezbollah\u2019s opponents still want it to disarm, the demand has slipped down the political agenda. Lebanese leaders are mostly concerned with a dire economic situation and the strain of hosting 1 million Syrian refugees.<\/p>\n

Donors pledged $11 billion (\u00a38.1 billion) in soft loans for a capital investment programme last month, in return for fiscal and other reforms, and they hope to hold the first follow-up meeting with the new government in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Debt ratings agencies had stressed the importance of Lebanon going ahead with the election after parliament had extended its term several times.<\/p>\n

POLITICAL STRAINS<\/h3>\n

After the last election in 2009, the onset of Syria\u2019s civil war, the arrival of over a million refugees and a series of militant attacks aggravated internal political rifts.<\/p>\n

Rival blocs in parliament could not agree on a new president between 2014-16 and repeatedly decided to delay elections, partly because of disagreement over moving from a winner-takes-all system to a proportional one.<\/p>\n

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The new rules are seen as unlikely to undermine the long-entrenched political elite, a group that includes local dynasties and former warlords.<\/p>\n

Mustapha Muzawwaq, 65, was sitting with neighbours in a side street drinking coffee. \u201cWe want the situation to stay as it is … At least we know the current MPs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In municipal elections two years ago, independent candidates did well against established parties by drawing on public anger at poor government services, including a garbage crisis.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Dagher, 27, a campaigner for an independent candidate in the Chouf-Aley district of Mount Lebanon, said he was optimistic.<\/p>\n

Parliament seats are divided evenly between Muslims and Christians, and further subdivided among their various sects. Lebanon\u2019s president must always be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister Sunni Muslim and the parliament speaker Shi\u2019ite.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Voters are registered not where they live but in the district their ancestors came from, meaning that many Beirut residents have to travel to villages across Lebanon to vote.<\/div>\n

Some acts of violence and intimidation connected to the election were reported in recent weeks. A candidate in Zahle accused her rivals of intimidation. They accused her party of bribery.<\/p>\n

Security around polling stations was heavy from early in the day and a Reuters reporter saw a column of armoured vehicles and other troop carriers driving slowly into the capital.<\/p>\n

Source: reuters<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIRUT \u00a0– Lebanese voted in their first general election for nine years on Sunday, with the Tehran-backed Hezbollah group and its allies expecting to emerge stronger, a result that would affirm Iran\u2019s regional ascendancy...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10219548024599422_1632221337088128":"","twitter_242054905_242054905":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politica"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLebanese vote in first general election in nine years - Noti-America.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/noti-america.com\/site\/principal\/2018\/05\/06\/lebanese-vote-in-first-general-election-in-nine-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lebanese vote in first general election in nine years\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BEIRUT \u00a0– Lebanese voted in their first general election for nine years on Sunday, with the Tehran-backed Hezbollah group and its allies expecting to emerge stronger, a result that would affirm Iran\u2019s regional ascendancy...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/noti-america.com\/site\/principal\/2018\/05\/06\/lebanese-vote-in-first-general-election-in-nine-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Noti-America.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-06T23:42:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Escrito por\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Tiempo estimado de lectura\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutos\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/noti-america.com\/site\/principal\/2018\/05\/06\/lebanese-vote-in-first-general-election-in-nine-years\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/noti-america.com\/site\/principal\/2018\/05\/06\/lebanese-vote-in-first-general-election-in-nine-years\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Lebanese vote in first general election in nine years\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-06T23:42:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/noti-america.com\/site\/principal\/2018\/05\/06\/lebanese-vote-in-first-general-election-in-nine-years\/\"},\"wordCount\":876,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Pol\u00edtica\"],\"inLanguage\":\"es\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/noti-america.com\/site\/principal\/2018\/05\/06\/lebanese-vote-in-first-general-election-in-nine-years\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/noti-america.com\/site\/principal\/2018\/05\/06\/lebanese-vote-in-first-general-election-in-nine-years\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/noti-america.com\/site\/principal\/2018\/05\/06\/lebanese-vote-in-first-general-election-in-nine-years\/\",\"name\":\"Lebanese vote in first general election in nine years - 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