March 14 claims win in Lebanon elections

Saad Hariri (L) leader of a pro-Western coalition embraces parliamentary candidate Nohad Machnouk (R) at his residence in Beirut on June 8, 2009. The Western-backed March 14 coalition headed by Saad al-Hariri, claims parliamentary election victory as a Hezbollah politician concedes defeat. Final results will be declared within a few hours, but the preliminary count shows the March 14 group has gained the upper hand and its supporters have started celebrations in the streets. Senior Christian politician Samir Geagea who heads the Lebanese Forces and is allied to March 14, says the group has narrowly defeated the Hezbollah coalition which is allied with Amal and Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement. Geagea added, "We accept the result as the will of the people." Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said any new government had to be based on partnership, not on one side monopolizing the power. Whoever wants political stability, the preservation of national unity and the resurrection of Lebanon will find no choice but to accept the principle of consensus, he said. The outcome will be a boost to the March 14 backers - the United States, Saudi Arabia and Egypt - and a stinging setback to Aoun, who held the biggest bloc of Christian MPs in the outgoing assembly. A source in Hariri's campaign predicted a decisive victory, with his bloc taking at least 70 of the assembly's 128 seats. Lebanese supporters of the Christian Phalangist and Lebanese Forces celebrate victory in Zahleh in the Bekaa Valley. Analysts commented that the likeliest outcome of the poll is another national unity government. According to unofficial results, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, 66, who has headed the cabinet since the Hariri-led coalition won the 2005 parliamentary elections, and enjoys Western and Arab support, won a parliamentary seat in the southern city of Sidon. Voting was relatively trouble-free across Lebanon, although there were many reports of vote-buying before the poll, with some Lebanese expatriates being offered free air tickets home. FTP/SME/HAR