Read our roundup of today's voting in Lebanon — the voter's hopes and fears, and in some cases, indifference, the failures of organization and alleged violations at the polls — here.
According to the latest figures released by the Interior Ministry, 41.04 percent of Lebanese across the country cast their vote in the parliamentary elections today.
The breakdown of the turnout so far is:
- Beirut I: 28.50 percent
- Beirut II: 38.33 percent
- Mount Lebanon I (Kesrouan-Jbeil): 55.93 percent
- Mount Lebanon II (Metn): 42.70 percent
- Mount Lebanon III (Baabda): 43.44 percent
- Mount Lebanon IV (Chouf-Aley): 44.49 percent
- South I (Saida-Jezzine): 42.30 percent
- South Lebanon II (Sour): 42.77 percent
- South Lebanon III (Hasbaya-Marjayoun-Nabatieh-Bint Jbeil): 41.76 percent
- North Lebanon I (Akkar): 40.73 percent
- North Lebanon II (Minyeh-Dennieh-Tripoli): 30.60 percent
- North Lebanon III (Zgharta-Besharri-Koura-Batroun): 38.45 percent
- Bekaa I (Zahle): 43.02 percent
- Bekaa II (Rashaya-Bekaa West): 34.20 percent
- Bekaa III (Baalbeck-Hermel): 48.90 percent
A video surfaced after polls closed showing, according to LADE, Hezbollah delegates placing ballots in envelopes at a polling station in the Hermel sub-district of Bekaa III during the vote counting process. Aly Sleem, executive director of LADE, confirmed the veracity of the video to L’Orient Today and said ballot slips after counting should not be returned to the envelopes. He added that party delegates have no right to count votes, only observe the vote-counting process.
Vote counting in one of Beirut’s counting centers is taking place amid a power outage, Legal Agenda has tweeted. The Interior Ministry had promised to secure electricity for the duration of the election process.
الفرز في أحد المراكز في بيروت الأولى، يجري في ظلّ انقطاع التيار الكهربائي رغم وعود وزارة الداخلية بتأمين التيار خلال الفرز.#انتخابات_2022 pic.twitter.com/NrOAO2YOHd
— Legal Agenda (@Legal_Agenda) May 15, 2022
In front of a polling station in Beirut, families of victims of the Aug. 4, 2020 port blast gathered in silence on Sunday, holding portraits of their loved ones killed in the disaster. For months, amid political interference from multiple quarters, Judge Tarek Bitar's investigation has been paralyzed, while a number of political and security officials are being prosecuted. Some of the family members were candidates for the legislative elections this Sunday.
At 6:30 p.m., 37.52 percent of Lebanese across the country had cast their vote in the parliamentary elections, the Interior Ministry reported. Polls closed at 7 p.m., although some voters who were inside the polling centers when they closed were allowed to vote later.
This breakdown of the turnout so far is:
- Beirut I: 27.24 percent
- Beirut II: 31.15 percent
- Mount Lebanon I (Kesrouan-Jbeil): 50.11 percent
- Mount Lebanon II (Metn): 40.74 percent
- Mount Lebanon III (Baabda): 41.15 percent
- Mount Lebanon IV (Chouf-Aley): 41.29 percent
- South I (Saida-Jezzine): 36.70 percent
- South Lebanon II (Sour): 37.47 percent
- South Lebanon III (Hasbaya-Marjayoun-Nabatieh-Bint Jbeil): 38.08 percent
- North Lebanon I (Akkar): 30.97 percent
- North Lebanon II (Minyeh-Dennieh-Tripoli): 25.85 percent
- North Lebanon III (Zgharta-Besharri-Koura-Batroun): 33.7 percent
- Bekaa I (Zahle): 38 percent
- Bekaa II (Rashaya-Bekaa West): 30.12 percent
- Bekaa III (Baalbeck-Hermel): 45.5 percent
While Lebanon’s parliamentary election voting has officially ended at 7 p.m., Premier Najib Mikati announced that polling centers with voters still in line to cast their ballots will remain open.
Mikati offered his thanks “for all those responsible for the conducting of the elections.”
“Every election has flaws, and the team managed to handle them. We came out with a great victory for the Lebanese state and its citizens,” he added.
Mikati deemed the turnout “low,” with official figures from the Interior Ministry showing 32.04 percent as of 5 p.m.
The prime minister said that “Sunni representation in the [upcoming] 2022 Parliament will be varied,” adding that he objected to any insults aimed against Future Movement leader Saad Hariri, who withdrew from politics in January.
Photo: Prime Minister Nagib Mikati during a press conference with Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi at the ministry's headquarters in Beirut. (Credit: Zeina Antonios/L'Orient-Le Jour)
In Aley, Zeina Akel, a student, voted for Alaa Sayegh, one of the candidates on the United for Change electoral list running in the Mount Lebanon IV constituency.
“We’ve had enough of the current establishment, we need new blood and accountability,” she said, at the Beit al Thawra (House of the Revolution), a traditional tripled-arched house built in the 1950s that has served as an activist headquarters in the mountain town.
Akel said that she did not find voting to be a smooth process in Aley, which was where the 2015 YouStink movement originally kicked off due to a garbage crisis in the area.
Photo: Zeina Akel and her dog in Aley. (Credit: Mohamed El Chamaa/L'Orient Today)
A fight erupted at a polling station in Chekka, injuring three people who were hospitalized, the National News Agency reported.
The state-run news agency said that “sticks and knives” were brandished in the fight, adding that the melee was between supporters of two parties, without identifying the political groups.
L’Orient Today’s correspondent reported that the dispute pitted supports of the Lebanese Forces against those of the Free Patriotic Movement.
An LF supporter told L’Orient Today that tensions had begun in the morning when FPM supporters pitched tents near the polling center, with a fight erupted when FPM leader Gebran Bassil arrived in the northern Lebanese town.
Photo: Lebanese Forces supporters in Chekka. (Credit: Caroline Hayek/L'Orient-Le Jour)
While the Ministry of Interior had promised that all polling places would be supplied with electricity on the polling day, this vow was not kept.
For example, at 3:30 p.m. the electricity went out at the Makassed School for Girls in the Bachoura district of Beirut, temporarily disrupting voting.
Photo: Balloting by cell phone light at a polling place in Beirut. (Credit; Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)
Voters are faced with overcrowding at a polling center at the Third Intermediate School in Bourj Hammoud, on the eastern outskirts of Beirut. Voters said they were facing three to four hour waits to cast their vote, L’Orient Today’s correspondent reported.
At 5 p.m., 32.04 percent of Lebanese across the country had cast their vote in the ongoing parliamentary elections, the Interior Ministry reported. Polls are due to close at 7 p.m.
This breakdown of the turnout so far is:
- Beirut I: 26.53 percent
- Beirut II: 28.21 percent
- Mount Lebanon I (Kesrouan-Jbeil): 44.71 percent
- Mount Lebanon II (Metn): 33.48 percent
- Mount Lebanon III (Baabda): 29.70 percent
- Mount Lebanon IV (Chouf-Aley): 35.77 percent
- Lebanon-South I (Saida-Jezzine): 32.45 percent
- South Lebanon II (Sour): 31.72 percent
- South Lebanon III (Hasbaya-Marjayoun-Nabatieh-Bint Jbeil): 32.98 percent
- North Lebanon I (Akkar): 26.80 percent
- North Lebanon II (Minyeh-Dennieh-Tripoli): 22.09 percent
- North Lebanon III (Zgharta-Besharri-Koura-Batroun): 31.70 percent
- Bekaa I (Zahle): 31.20 percent
- Bekaa II (Rashaya-Bekaa West): 26 percent
- Bekaa III (Baalbeck-Hermel): 39.83 percent
Photo: A distributed set of voter turnouts as of 5 p.m. from the Interior Ministry. (Credit: Interior Ministry Press Office)
Rizkallah Hayek, 31, and his brother voted in Amchit. Rizkallah Hayek, who works in the field of communications, said he was supporting the Free Patriotic Movement.
“The revolution goes through the ballot box,” he said, adding that the FPM “exists more than ever and we are tired of being harassed.”
The voter also said that the atmosphere in Amchit, a town north of Jbeil, was “good-natured,” adding that “sometimes elsewhere it’s hard to show that you are” a supporter of the FPM.
Photo: Rizkallah Hayek and his brother. (Credit: Caroline Hayek/L’Orient-Le Jour)
Leila Hmeidan, a 60-year old head of a woman’s association for the Progressive Socialist Party in the Chouf town of Baaqlin, said residents were happy to vote.
“They wish good results,” she said, adding that incumbent PSP MP Teymour Jumblatt, the son of party leader Walid, was a “young candidate and deserves this.”
She said that she believed the PSP, one of the establishment parties in power in Lebanon, “give us hope for change to the situation in Lebanon, which is bad.”
Photo: Leila Hmeidan (R) supports the PSP in Baaqlin. (Credit: Mohamad El Chamaa/L'Orient Today)
In Beirut’s Tariq al-Jadideh neighborhood, part of the Beirut II constituency, residents boycotting the elections gathered at two separate inflatable pools set up in the neighborhood.
At one of the pools, in the area’s Berjaoui Street, Nadim Habli said, “We are boycotting the elections following Saad Hariri’s decision” in January to withdraw himself and his party, the Future Movement, from the elections.
“When we vote Hariri, it is impossible to vote for someone else, it is like moving from the seventh floor to the basement. We don’t care who will win, in all cases we are governed by Hezbollah,” he added.
Another boycotter, Rabih al-Omari, explained he was doing so “because we feel it is the same result whether we vote or not.”
“It is clear who is running the country and we want to prove that the low turnout within the Sunni sect discredits the results of the elections. The pool is to show that it is not an election day for us,” he added.
Photo: One of the pools in Tariq al-Jadideh. (Credit: Joao Sousa/L'Orient-Le Jour)
As of 3 p.m., 25.26 percent of Lebanese across the country had already cast their vote, the Interior Ministry reported.
The breakdown of the turnout so far is the following:
- Beirut I: 17.53 percent
- Beirut II: 22.81 percent
- Mount Lebanon I (Kesrouan): 42.04 percent - (Jbeil): 38.56 percent
- Mount Lebanon II (Metn): 27.99 percent
- Mount Lebanon III (Baabda): 27.73 percent
- Mount Lebanon IV (Chouf): 27.97 percent - (Aley): 29.56 percent
- Lebanon-South I (Saida): 26.11 percent - (Jezzine): 26.17 percent
- South Lebanon II (Sour): 25.44 percent
- South Lebanon III (Marjayoun-Hasbaya): 26.80 percent - (Nabatieh): 31.36 percent - (Bint Jbeil): 28.85 percent
- North Lebanon I (Akkar): 21.77 percent
- North Lebanon II (Minyeh): 15.7 percent - (Dennieh): 17.12 percent - (Tripoli): 12.55 percent
- North Lebanon III (Zgharta): 21.64 percent - (Besharri): 26.54 percent - (Koura): 20.01 percent (Batroun): 37.50 percent
- Bekaa I (Zahle): 25.7 percent
- Bekaa II (Rashaya-Bekaa West): 18.07 percent
- Bekaa III (Baalbeck-Hermel): 32.14 percent
Photo: A screen at the Interior Ministry displays voter turnout by constituency at 3 p.m. (Credit: Interior Ministry Press Office)
In Hasbaya, secondary school teacher Rabih Abou Rahba said that “all the parties in power are in cahoots. They pretend to have differences but get along very well.”
He added that the South III constituency, which also includes Nabatieh and Bint Jbeil should have been “divided in two so that the votes of Marjeyoun-Hasbaya are no longer in the minority.”
Meanwhile, Mohammad Mansour, a 39-year resident of Khiam and supporter of Hezbollah said “the obvious choice for me is that of the Resistance,” a reference to Hezbollah.
“If we live in safety in our villages since the liberation in 2000 [from Israeli occupation], it is good because of the deterrent force of the Resistance against Israel,” he said.
When asked about the economic crisis, he said Hezbollah “is the first supporter for change and reform,” adding that he believes “no other political force wants to open the corruption files apart from us.”
Asked about the economic crisis and the weariness of the population, he believes that "the Resistance camp is the first support for change and reform". "Unfortunately, no other political force wants to open the corruption files apart from us," he said again.
Photo: A Hezbollah delegate in front of a polling station in South Lebanon III. (Credit: Mohammed Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
Rouba Ahmad Taha, a voter in Baalbeck who supported the Oct. 17, 2019 mass protest movement, said that she believes “it is the duty of every Lebanese to vote because it is the voters who build the country.”
“These legislative elections are important because new candidates are running against the ruling class,” she added.
"We are still in the first round of the fight against corruption. I expect a change even if the road remains long. Supporters of the popular revolt will gain access to Parliament. The change started on Oct. 17, 2019 and will continue in order to build the state," she said.
Photo: Rouba Ahmad Taha after voting in Baalbeck. (Credit: Sara Abdallah/L'Orient-Le Jour)
In Zgharta, the hometown of the establishment Franjieh political family, 40-year old entrepreneur Edouard Ghazoul voted for incumbent Marada Movement MP Tony Frangieh, son of the party’s leader, Sleiman.
"He is the only politician who cares about his people in Zgharta. The country has gone through many crises. The Marada family is the only one who has remained present and active. (Tony is) the only one who responds to our needs,” the voter said.
Meanwhile, 65-year old Youssef Fenianos voted for Shamaluna, an alliance of independent groups in North Lebanon, but the Zgharta native was not hopeful of political change.
“I don’t think there will be change, at least not in Zgharta. Look around you,” he said, pointing at the delegates stationed near the Slayyib Janoubi polling stations, some wearing the Marada Movement’s green vests, others in dark blue shirts with resigned MP Michel Mouawad’s name etched on the back.
“There is no change here.”
Photo: Edouard Ghazoul cast his vote in Zgharta for Marada Movement MP Tony Frangieh, whose family is based in the mountain town. (Credit: Kim Makhlouf/L’Orient Today)
Just outside the polling station at the Makassed School for Girls, situated in the capital’s Bachoura quarter that is part of the Beirut II voting constituency, a group of volunteers too young to vote explain who they would cast their ballots for if they could: Ahmad Dabbagh, a member of the To Beirut list supported by the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects, aka Al-Ahbash, a Sunni political group supportive of the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria.
“Everyone knows him in our school and neighborhoods. He has a big heart and we know that if he wins he will do good things. Not just for our communities, but for all Lebanese,” one of the teenage volunteers said.
At the same polling station, Rayan Mneimeh, a 26-year-old communications manager, said he had voted for “an opposition list with members who have been on the ground since the protests in 2016.”
“Though I don’t have much hope in any real or concrete change, nor in a voting and sorting system that will be 100% impartial and objective — LADE has already recorded tens of violations in multiple districts,” Mneimeh said.
“While I personally didn’t witness any violations, I have mixed feelings about the results and the future of the country and am extremely anxious about the validity of the results we’ll witness tonight and tomorrow,” the voter added.
Photo: Voting is underway at the Makassed School for Girls in Beirut's Bachoura neighborhood. (Credit: Farah-Silvana Kanaan/L'Orient Today)
“The situation is very good, it is under control and is much better than in previous elections … We have taken the necessary measures in Baalbeck, Bireh and Ram and the problems were quickly resolved,” Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said during a press briefing around 2:30 p.m. at the Interior Ministry.
The voting process so far today has been marked in a number of areas by arguments and scuffles between supporters of opposing parties.
In the Akkar village of Bireh, a fight erupted between delegates and voters, forcing the Lebanese Army to intervene to shoot in the air to disperse the brawling crowd.
One person was injured, with the Red Cross evacuating him, while voting was temporarily suspended, the National News Agency reported.
In a polling station in the Ram area of Baalbeck (Bekaa III), voting was suspended following a dispute between voters during which a number of voter lists were damaged, the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections reported.
In Kfar Houne in Jezzine (South Lebanon I), supporters of Hezbollah and Amal attacked a Lebanese Forces tent, according to the El-Nashra news site. This attack was denounced by the leader of the LF, Samir Geagea, who called on the security forces and the army to arrest those involved in the incident.
In front of the Sacred Heart school in Zahle (Bekaa I), the army deployed to settle a dispute between two groups of supporters, the state-run National News Agency reports. A similar incident occurred in Kfar Zabad, also in the district of Zahle.
In Fneideq, in Akkar, the ballot was suspended in two polling stations due to the “chaos” of the electoral operation and numerous infractions and disputes between delegates and supporters.
Paula Howayek, a 61-year-old voter in Jbeil, is furious with the organization of today’s ballot. She has thus far returned to her polling station three times: at 7:30 a.m. after attending mass, then at 9 a.m. and finally at 1 p.m.
“It's very badly organized, [there is] no one to organize the queue,” she said, adding that candidates and their family members have been jumping the line.
“The candidates do not queue like everyone else? And they say they are from the opposition and want to change the country?” she complained.
Photo: Paula Howayek has faced frustrations with trying to vote in Jbeil. (Credit: Caroline Hayek/L’Orient-Le Jour)
In Dhour Choueir, a village in the Metn region that is part of the Mount Lebanon II constituency, restaurant owner Pierre Zgheib said that he would not vote.
“We vote for them every time, and we say. . . next elections [we will go about it differently], let’s take a stand for once. Let us bark, but in a proper way. They’re all shittier than each other,” he said, in general reference to the establishment politicians in the country.
“The well fed leaves and the beggar arrives. They’re all garbage,” Zgheib also said. He struck a pessimistic note on the future of Lebanon saying, “We’re all going to emigrate. Wait and see. After these elections we’re going in ships.”
Photo: Pierre Zgheib (R) said he was not voting. (Caption: Richard Salameh/L’Orient Today)
In Bikfaya, a town in the Metn region that is part of the Mount Lebanon II constituency, business owner Michel Abi Hayla pointed out the hurdles disabled voters have to overcome at the polling center.
“Everytime we face the same problem when voting here,” he said, adding that “the center is not equipped for people who need special access. There are hundreds of steps to climb and it is not easy to carry everyone on the narrow stairs.”
Photo: Michel Abi Hayla points out the staircase behind him, which poses difficulties for disabled voters. (Credit: Kabalan Farah/L’Orient Today)
In Sour, part of the South Lebanon II constituency, 28-year old photographer Malak Nassour said that “lots of people don't want to vote because they believe they would not make a difference in this district because of how one sided the race is here,” referring to power of the Amal Movement and Hezbollah, which jointly support the Hope and Loyalty list.
“I wish I was voting in another district so that my vote would make a bigger difference.” she added.
In the town of Srifa, outside Sour, Ali Mounfid Najdi, who is working for the Citizens in a State (MMFD) group, said, “Voting is a personal responsibility and the elections come at a critical period for Lebanon.”
He added that MMFD, an opposition party that is contesting the race in South II with the Together for Change electoral list, hoped to “gain one seat in the district, although it is hard.”
“There’s a gap in resources between us and the other list [supported by Hezbollah and Amal] and they have the resources to influence people at the doors of polling centers, sometimes even inside the polling stations, sometimes illegally, and this is unfair,” he added.
Najdi added that MMFD was more optimistic of its chances to land a seat in the neighboring South Lebanon III constituency.
Photo: A polling station in the village of Abbasieh outside Sur. (Credit: Wael Taleb/L’Orient Today)
As Lebanon votes for its next Parliament, a vehicle adorned in Hezbollah flags and displaying fake missile on its roof parades through the streets of Beirut.
Photo: (Credit: Ibrahim Amro/AFP)
At 11 a.m., 14.6 percent of Lebanese across the country had already cast their vote, the Interior Ministry reported.
This breakdown of the turnout so far is:
- Beirut I: 9.78 percent
- Beirut II: 12.8 percent
- Mount Lebanon I (Kesrouan-Jbeil): 13.23 percent
- Mount Lebanon II (Metn): 18.28 percent
- Mount Lebanon III (Baabda): 18.12 percent
- Mount Lebanon IV (Chouf-Aley): 18.02 percent
- Lebanon-South I (Saida-Jezzine): 15.65 percent
- South Lebanon II (Sour): 13.13 percent
- South Lebanon III (Hasbaya-Marjayoun-Nabatieh-Bint Jbeil): 16.08 percent
- North Lebanon I (Akkar): 10.04 percent
- North Lebanon II (Minyeh-Dennieh-Tripoli): 10.22 percent
- North Lebanon III (Zgharta-Besharri-Koura-Batroun): 20.60 percent
- Bekaa I (Zahle): 12.57 percent
- Bekaa II (Rashaya-Bekaa West): 12.70 percent
- Bekaa III (Baalbeck-Hermel): 15.77 percent
Photo: A screen at the Interior Ministry displays voter turnout by constituency at 11 a.m. (Credit: Interior Ministry Press Office)
A delegate from a list in Hareit Hreik, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, was arrested by members of the presidential guard and soldiers deployed at the scene after he insulted President Michel Aoun as the latter voted, according to the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections.
In a video circulating on social networks, we see a man being manhandled to the ground by a group of soldiers and men in civilian clothes, while at least one soldier strikes him. It is unclear where the arrested individual was taken. According to some testimonies reported by media outlets, the individual was arrested after continuing to insult Aoun, while leaving the polling station.
In addition, several delegates from opposition groups and on the "Baabda the Change" list were prevented from accessing polling stations to monitor the ballot, even though they had obtained the necessary accreditations, according to a source within the list in question.
Photo: (Credit: screenshot from a video sent by LADE)
An incident occurred in a polling station in Zahle Maallaka, between Hezbollah and the Lebanese Forces. According to a member of the LF, elements of his party saw members of Hezbollah in the act of buying votes and wanted to stop them. A brawl ensued and Hezbollah supporters fired into the air. The army intervened quickly to restore calm.
Photo: Supporters gather outside the entrance to the Elias Hraoui government hospital in Zahle after an incident on the sidelines of the vote. (Credit: Screenshot)
In Saida, Souad, 60, a housewife, voted "for those who did not steal the country," adding, "I have a lot of remorse for having one day given my vote to the parties in power, it is time to deliver the country to honest people."
In the company of his retired parents and his son, Mahmoud, 50, a lawyer, said he has "waited for this opportunity to vote for four long years, because I want to vent my anger against this corrupt ruling class, which must be replaced." He did not specify for whom he voted.
Meanwhile, Moustapha, a 55-year-old teacher, said he had "voted in good conscience for Osama Saad, because he was able to stand up to the parties in power, of which he is not a part."
Photo: A polling station in Saida. (Credit Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
In front of one of the schools in Tripoli, Bassem Rawda, a 27-year-old engineer, clearly stated that he voted against the government lists and that he gave his vote to a list resulting from the Oct. 17 uprising. "For the people of Tripoli, this is an opportunity to say that change is not impossible as long as the popular will is there," he said.
Najat Kabbara, 56, a high-school teacher, said she voted for the list of (Gen. Ashraf) Rifi and the Lebanese Forces, because it is the list that stands in opposition to the project of Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement. "I refuse that there is a vacuum that the allies of Hezbollah would come to fill," she added.
Photo: Voters gather in front of a polling station in a school in Tripoli. (Credit Souhayb Jawhar/L'Orient Today)
Samira, 62, has not worked for three years. She says she voted in Achrafieh (Beirut I) for the Lebanese Forces' list, describing the party as "the only one to have brought help" in these times of crisis.
Photo: (Credit: Stephanie Khouri/L'Orient Today)
Politicians continue to show up at polling stations in their constituencies. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri voted in Tebnine (South Lebanon II), while Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan took part in the ballot in Choueifat (Mount Lebanon IV).
Photo: Nabih Berri casts his vote. (Credit: Muntasser Abdallab)
"I came from Dubai to vote for change, for a person who works for the sovereignty of Lebanon and does not accept orders from abroad," said Gretta Habib, 38, at a polling station in Haret Sakhr in Kesrouan (Mount Lebanon I), without revealing the identity of the candidate to whom she granted her preferential vote. The lawyer knows that her "vote alone is not enough to achieve change," but hopes that "hand in hand, the Lebanese will manage to oust the parties responsible for the catastrophic situation in which the country finds itself."
Photo: A Lebanese woman voting in Jounieh. (Credit Joseph Eid/AFP)
Not far from an inflatable swimming pool set up on Saturday in a street in Tariq al-Jadideh, Hassan, a voter in his 40s registered in Beirut II, said he is not going to vote because "change is impossible through the ballot boxes, as long as Hezbollah has its weapons."
For Hassan, Fouad Siniora and the Lebanese Forces betrayed former Prime Minister and Future Movement leader Saad Hariri, who announced, a few months ago, his withdrawal from political life and therefore his and his party's non-participation in today's elections.
On a wall, above the swimming pool in which young people from the neighborhood frolic, is a portrait of Hariri.
To reread, on this subject: On D-Day, what will the Sunni electorate do?
In Zahle (Bekaa I), in the village of Rassiyeh al-Tahta, Youssef Ghantous, 26, is waiting for his turn to vote. This professional basketball player and resident of Beirut wants to vote for the new Lebanon to which he aspires.
"I vote for Georges Okais because I follow the political line of the Lebanese Forces against the Iranian project and I want a parliamentary team capable of achieving this objective," he said.
“These elections will allow me to decide whether or not I stay in this country,” he added.
Lebanon has experienced a large wave of emigration since the start of the financial crisis in 2019.
Photo: Youssef Ghantous. (Credit: Anne-Marie El-Hage/L'Orient Today)
“I came with my family from Jbeil to vote for change and not for the traditional parties. I had never voted before, and my family had not, but this time we came, because it is a good cause," said 55-year-old Rosemary Mjaeiss of Dhour Choueir, Metn, without specifying who she voted for.
Photo: Voters in front of a polling station in Dhour Choueir, Metn. (Credit Jeanine Jalkh/L'Orient Today)
Johnny Nasrallah, a 50-year-old pastry chef, votes in Hadath (Baabda). "I am participating in the ballot because it is my duty. I hope for change, of course. But I believe that the same heads will be elected," he said.
Photo: Johnny Nasrallah. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient Today)
"I work in a hotel in France, I came to Lebanon to vote," said Ramzi Moawad, who is at a polling station in Beit al-Chaar in Metn (Mount Lebanon II). "I voted for the Free Patriotic Movement in the last two elections, and today I am voting for Samy Gemayel [Kataeb leader]. The FPM has proven ineffective in the fight for the country's future and I think that candidates like Mr. Gemayel will get us out of this mess,” he said.
Photo: Ramzi Moawad after casting his vote in Mount Lebanon II. (Credit Kabalan Farah/L'Orient Today)
Selim Melhem, 67, a former university official and voter in the village of Qelya (Bekaa II), says he voted for Qablan Qabalan (Amal) who is running on the "A Better Tomorrow" list. "As long as the sectarian system exists in Lebanon, nothing will change and each sect will continue to elect its candidates. There is no change possible unless political sectarianism is abolished in the country. That is when each citizen will be able to elect the candidate of his choice," Melhem said.
Photo: (Credit: Sarah Abdallah)
At the Sacred Heart school in Gemmayzeh (Beirut I), Natasha, 29, came to vote for the Lebanese Forces in order to block the Free Patriotic Movement. For this accountant, the forces of change are too fragmented and fragile, unlike the LF, which has a national base. "We have to give them a chance," she said, stressing that the LF is the only party that has been "judged for its participation in the [1975-90] Civil War." LF leader Samir Geagea served 11 years in prison, from 1994 to 2005, after being tried for crimes he was accused of committing during the war.
Photo: Natasha came out to vote for the Lebanese Forces. (Credit: Stephanie Khouri/L'Orient Today)
In Zgharta (North Lebanon III), Sarah El Kareh, a 33-year-old translator, voted for the "Our North" list, supported by opposition groups close to the October 2019 protest movement and the National Bloc. “It’s really amazing that we’re seeing a lot of change, not the same people we’ve been seeing before. We have hope. We’re wishing for the best,” she said.
Photo: Sarah El Kareh spoke to L'Orient Today after casting her vote. (Credit: Kim Makhlouf/L'Orient Today)
In Saida (South Lebanon I), Noel Sahyouni, 25, who works in the IT field, has just voted for Osama Saad, who is running on "We are the Change" list. "I participated in the ballot this year because I wanted my voice and my opinion to be heard," Sahyouni said. "Osama Saad has always been loyal and trustworthy, I gave him my preferential vote because he can take care of us," the young voter added.
Photo: a portrait of Oussama Saad in Saida. (Credit Mohamad El Chamaa/L'Orient Today)
Bassam Abu Hamdan, 52, a retired soldier who came to the Public Technical Institute in Hazerta-Zahle to cast his vote, said, "I vote for the resistance, for Hezbollah which protected Lebanon against Israel." Abu Hamdan added that he can no longer be satisfied with his meager retirement payment, which is worth the equivalent of $70 per month. "The party helps us, for heating oil in the winter, for the education of our children, to make ends meet, because the state is absent," he explained. At the same time, he said that he wants Lebanon to be open to the world, and all the countries likely to help — Iran, Russia or the United States.
Photo: Bassam Abu Hamdan says he is voting for Hezbollah in the elections. (Credit: Anne-Marie El-Hage/L'Orient Today)
Our correspondent at the voting center in the Public Technical Institute in Hazerta-Zahle (Bekaa I) has noted some representatives of political parties accompanying women to voting booths at the polling station to "help" them vote. An official at the polling station confirmed the offenses to our correspondent, without specifying whether measures had been taken to prevent them from being repeated.
Photo: A woman, draped in a political party flag, stands next to a voter as she marks her ballot. (Credit: Anne-Marie El-Hage/L'Orient Today)
In Minyeh (North Lebanon II), Amira Wehbi, 38, voted for change without wanting to reveal her vote. “I did not vote for the same. It's a new face. I hope he can change the situation. Here, everyone wants change,” she said.
Meanwhile, in the same constituency, Manal al-Kheir, 35, intends to vote to make her voice “heard.” For these elections, she will choose Kazem Kheir from the “For the people” list supported by Najib Mikati. “But Kazem is an independent unlike the others. This is the line of dignity. He can change things,” she added.
As for Othman Alameddine (outgoing MP and a candidate on the "Rescue of a Nation" list), he said, “I will never vote for the Lebanese Forces.” The candidates of the October 2019 thawra (revolution) did not enchant him either. “Nobody is independent,” he said, explaining why he did not participate in the Oct. 17, 2019 protest movement by saying, "I don't go down to that sort of thing."
Photo: Voters gather at a polling station in North Lebanon II. (Credit: Lyana Alameddine/L'Orient Today)
On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch challenged the Lebanese authorities on the accessibility of polling stations for voters with reduced mobility, calling on them to "do more to ensure that people with disabilities and those who are elderly can vote freely and with dignity."
Photo: A voter in a wheelchair leaves a polling station in Saida (South Lebanon I) that has been made accessible for people with reduced mobility thanks to a ramp. (Credit: Mohamad El Chamaa/L'Orient Today)
Voting in Sour’s Public School for Girls, a 46-year-old plumber, who asked not to be named, said, “Elections are very important and everyone should vote. It’s important because we live in a sectarian country so we should elect people that defend our sect.” Jaafar cast his ballot for the Amal and Hezbollah list “Hope and Loyalty.”
Photo: The polling station at Sour’s Public School for Girls. (Credit: Wael Taleb/L'Orient Today)
Prime Minister Najib Mikati said "turnout was good in the morning" shortly after voting at a polling station in Tripoli, North Lebanon. "All the institutions of the state are ready to ensure the smooth running of the ballot," he added, calling on the Lebanese "to choose the suitable candidates."
Photo: Mikati casts his ballot in Tripoli. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
Various security measures came into effect on Saturday ahead of the elections. The army deployed in several regions of Lebanon "in order to maintain the security of the electoral process and ensure the integrity of its conduct," according to a press release issued by the military institution. The army also called on "citizens to cooperate and comply with the instructions of the army and security forces" during polling. More details on this deployment can be found here.
(Photo credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today)
Photo: Queue forms outside a polling station in the Basta neighborhood of Beirut. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today)