FPM supporters, in Batroun, May 15, 2022. (Photo: Ibrahim Chalhoub / AFP)
Aounists received a rare piece of good news after the parliamentary elections. In the North I constituency, the Akkar district, where seven seats were up for contention (three Sunni, two Greek Orthodox, one Maronite and one Alawite), the list supported by Gebran Bassil’s Free Patriotic Movement and the principal March 8 parties held their ground, despite the decline in the orange party’s popularity at the national level and the boycott of the main Sunni leader, Saad Hariri.
The results
- The list of the March 8 camp obtained three seats: Asaad Dergham in a Greek-Orthodox seat, Jimmy Jabbour in the Maronite seat and a Sunni seat to the pro-Syrian Mohamed Yehya.
- However, the lion’s share went to the list formed by people close to Saad Hariri who obtained four seats: Walid Baarini and Mohamad Sleiman in two Sunni seats, Sagih Attieh in the second Greek-Orthodox seat, and Ahmad Rustom in the Alawite seat.
What to remember
- While the list of candidates previously aligned with the Hariri movement succeeded in obtaining a significant number of seats, the defeat of the Maronite MP Hadi Hobeiche, known for his close relations with Saad Hariri, echoed the impact of Hariri’s boycott on the district’s voters.
- The FPM advances, contrary to the general dynamics in the country, are also noteworthy.
- The Lebanese Forces, which had built strong alliances in Akkar with Talal Merhebi and Khaled Daher, were unable to pass the electoral threshold and therefore deprived of parliamentary representation in this region.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour