Flags of Lebanon and the Lebanese Forces in front of a restaurant in Jbeil, May 15, 2022. (Joseph Eid / AFP)
At the end of the election, the Free Patriotic Movement suffered a symbolic loss in its Christian stronghold of Kesrouan. The FPM’s ally, Hezbollah, did manage to have its candidate elected in Jbeil.
Initial results
In Jbeil:
The Lebanese Forces (one seat in 2018) got Ziad Hawat re-elected for another term.
The same is true of the FPM (one seat 2018), whose candidate Simon Abi Ramiaa was re-elected, though the votes were divided between Abi Ramia and Walid Khoury, who ran on the same list and who is supported by the President Michel Aoun, but did not secure a seat.
Unlike the 2018 election, Hezbollah and the FPM joined forces to have businessman Raed Berro take Jbeil’s Shiite seat. The win follows a crushing defeat in 2018, when the candidate of Hassan Nasrallah’s party, was defeated although he had a high number of preferential votes.
In Kesrouan:
- In this traditionally Aounist stronghold, the LF (one seat in 2018) got Chawki Daccache re-elected for a second term in Parliament.
- As for the FPM (three seats in 2018), former minister Nada Boustani won a seat.
- Neehmat Frem was re-elected and Kataeb vice president Salim Sayegh won one seat.
- The fifth Maronite seat will go to Farid Jean Heiykal el-Khazen, a traditional figure close to the Marada Movement, who was re-elected for another term.
Things to remember
The FPM suffered a symbolic defeat, having lost two seats. While it managed to lead Boustani to Parliament, Gebran Bassil’s party lost two seats that had been held by its bloc. One of these was lost to Neehmat Frem, who withdrew from the Aounist bloc before resigning from parliament after the Aug. 4, 2020 blast. Frem won the bet, being re-elected without FPM support. By forming a list with the Kataeb and the National Bloc, he helped Sami Gemayel’s party win a seat in Kesrouan, although the Phalange was not part of the district’s electoral spectrum in 2018.
*This analysis is based on figures that are not yet final and will be updated with the official results.
It was originally published in French in L'Orient-leJour, translated by Joelle Khoury