Translation by Rana Abdul
(Zaman Al Wasl)- Hassan Mohammad Shaayto, Mukhtar of the town of Ainata in Lebanon’s Bekaa valley, died from a heart attack on Sunday after he won against his opponent Abdul Karim Harmoush.
The elections were held in the Lebanese capital Beirut and the area of Bekaa on Sunday in the first ballot activity the country has witnessed since 6 years. The rest of areas in Lebanon will follow in the upcoming weeks.
Lebanese activists mentioned that the highest level of participation in the elections was for the town of Arsal that includes one of the highest collectivities for Syrian refugees as they number around 100 thousand.
A source in the border town confirmed for Zaman al-Wasl that Syrian refugees upheld the curfew called for the town local leaders during the days Saturday, Sunday and until Monday afternoon.
Nohad Machnouk, the ministry of interior said in a press conference held in the Ministry of Interior headquarters in Beirut after the locking of the ballot box on Sunday evening, “The Lebanese have proven today that they deserve freedom, democracy, and they are ready for the benefits to come.”
The last parliamentary elections in Lebanon were held on the 7th of July 2007. In May 2013, the parliament extended its terms until November 2014, and then extended it once more until the 20th of July 2017 given the instability of the security situation in the country according to the parliamentary body that supports the postponement of the Legislative elections.
Experts and legalists see in the state holding the municipal elections evidence that politicians are launching nonexistent security excuses to postpone the parliamentary and presidential elections.
The ministry of interior said, “Politics in Lebanon to day regained some of its vitality and light instead of the continued talk about problems. It took a dose of positivity that makes us face the next three faces, God permitting, in a better way.”
He added, “The first elections that must happen in Lebanon to complete the political quorum of the Lebanese political system is the presidential elections followed by the parliamentary elections and any other talk is talk to open problems and not achieve any success.”
Some politics insist on holding the parliamentary elections based on the new electoral law before electing a new president for the country, a seat which has been left empty since the end of the term of the former president Michel Suleiman. In May 2014.
Machnouk continued saying, “The law voting rates are just in Beirut and not even for most of Beirut, and it less by less than 20 %. In Zahle the percentage is around 40 and in the villages the percentage is 60%. In Baalbek there is a very high percentage, and in the villages in Bekaa province I can confirm that 8 out of 10 percent is a high voting rate.”
In Beirut two complete lists competed for 24 seats in the municipal council distributed equally between Christians and Muslims. A new Lebanese movement was out forward that calls itself “Beirut Madinati” as a serious competitor to win in the elections benefiting from the state of frustration felt towards the failed governance in an unprecedented attempt to weaken the grip of the religious parties.
Beirut Madinati list worked on attracting voters who are angry at the deterioration of the capital that was once known as the Paris of the east but is now hegemonized by the smell of garbage in addition to other problems.
(Zaman Al Wasl)- Hassan Mohammad Shaayto, Mukhtar of the town of Ainata in Lebanon’s Bekaa valley, died from a heart attack on Sunday after he won against his opponent Abdul Karim Harmoush.
The elections were held in the Lebanese capital Beirut and the area of Bekaa on Sunday in the first ballot activity the country has witnessed since 6 years. The rest of areas in Lebanon will follow in the upcoming weeks.
Lebanese activists mentioned that the highest level of participation in the elections was for the town of Arsal that includes one of the highest collectivities for Syrian refugees as they number around 100 thousand.
A source in the border town confirmed for Zaman al-Wasl that Syrian refugees upheld the curfew called for the town local leaders during the days Saturday, Sunday and until Monday afternoon.
Nohad Machnouk, the ministry of interior said in a press conference held in the Ministry of Interior headquarters in Beirut after the locking of the ballot box on Sunday evening, “The Lebanese have proven today that they deserve freedom, democracy, and they are ready for the benefits to come.”
The last parliamentary elections in Lebanon were held on the 7th of July 2007. In May 2013, the parliament extended its terms until November 2014, and then extended it once more until the 20th of July 2017 given the instability of the security situation in the country according to the parliamentary body that supports the postponement of the Legislative elections.
Experts and legalists see in the state holding the municipal elections evidence that politicians are launching nonexistent security excuses to postpone the parliamentary and presidential elections.
The ministry of interior said, “Politics in Lebanon to day regained some of its vitality and light instead of the continued talk about problems. It took a dose of positivity that makes us face the next three faces, God permitting, in a better way.”
He added, “The first elections that must happen in Lebanon to complete the political quorum of the Lebanese political system is the presidential elections followed by the parliamentary elections and any other talk is talk to open problems and not achieve any success.”
Some politics insist on holding the parliamentary elections based on the new electoral law before electing a new president for the country, a seat which has been left empty since the end of the term of the former president Michel Suleiman. In May 2014.
Machnouk continued saying, “The law voting rates are just in Beirut and not even for most of Beirut, and it less by less than 20 %. In Zahle the percentage is around 40 and in the villages the percentage is 60%. In Baalbek there is a very high percentage, and in the villages in Bekaa province I can confirm that 8 out of 10 percent is a high voting rate.”
In Beirut two complete lists competed for 24 seats in the municipal council distributed equally between Christians and Muslims. A new Lebanese movement was out forward that calls itself “Beirut Madinati” as a serious competitor to win in the elections benefiting from the state of frustration felt towards the failed governance in an unprecedented attempt to weaken the grip of the religious parties.
Beirut Madinati list worked on attracting voters who are angry at the deterioration of the capital that was once known as the Paris of the east but is now hegemonized by the smell of garbage in addition to other problems.
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