A voter at a polling station in Beirut, on May 18, 2025. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine / L’Orient-Le Jour)
Municipal elections… here we go again !
This Sunday, Lebanese citizens originating from three governorates are heading to the polls to elect the municipal councils and moukhtars (local officials) of their towns and villages: those from Baalbeck-Hermel, the Bekaa and the capital, Beirut.
What should you know about this election, for which polling stations opened at 7 a.m. this morning ?
Three governorates are therefore involved in the vote:
• Beirut, where a single municipal council of 24 members must be elected by Beirutis, who are invited to cast their ballots at dozens of polling stations across all neighborhoods of the capital.
• The Bekaa, itself divided into districts:
- West Bekaa, where 31 municipal councils are to be elected ;
- Rashaya: 26 councils ;
- Zahle: 30 councils.
• Baalbeck-Hermel and its two districts:
- Baalbeck: 76 municipal councils, including that of the large eponymous city ;
- Hermel: 8 councils.
What are the main competing lists ?
To understand the political stakes of Sunday’s elections, (re)read the analysis by Salah Hijazi:
In Beirut
1. Beirut Unites Us
An eclectic coalition: Kataeb, Lebanese Forces, Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), Amal, Hezbollah.
Sunni support: Ahbash, Fouad Makhzoumi.
2. Beirut Madinati
The change camp, supported by MPs from the protest movement such as Ibrahim Mneimneh, Paula Yaacoubian, Melhem Khalaf, the Madinati party and the National Bloc.
This list is the heir of the citizen-driven electoral movement of 2016, which surprised many in the last municipal elections by winning over 30 percent of the vote.
3. Beirut Loves You
The list backed by al-Jamaa al-Islamiya (a party stemming from the Muslim Brotherhood) and MP Nabil Badr. It is suspected that Saad Hariri may also be supporting it.
In the Bekaa
In Zahle:
1. The Heart of Zahle
An independent list launched by the Lebanese Forces.
2. Zahle’s Vision and Decision
A list supported by Myriam Skaff’s Popular Bloc, the Kataeb party, and independent MPs like Michel Daher and Georges Bouchikian.
Faced with these two competing lists, the FPM has not issued any voting instructions to its supporters.
In Baalbeck:
1. Development and Loyalty
A list supported by the Amal–Hezbollah alliance, as well as by the Ahbash and Baalbeck’s mufti, Bakr Rifai.
2. Baalbeck Madinati
An opposition list led by the change camp, supported by dissident Shiites and notable Christian and Sunni figures from the city.
A similar dynamic is observed in Shmustar, a village near Baalbeck, where a list backed by the protest forces is directly challenging the Shiite (Amal-Hezbollah) alliance.
