Saad Hariri

Hariri's ticket won all 19 seats up for grabs in Beirut in voting May 29. But other regions still to vote in the staggered elections will be far more challenging, with entrenched pro-Syrian politicians forging alliances that could prove hard to defeat.

Many observers expect the four-stage polls, the first free of Syrian meddling in 29 years, to sweep the anti-Syrian opposition to power, even though the main alliance has splintered.

The elections that began in Beirut run on the next three Sundays in other regions to fill all 128 seats in the legislature.

But turnout was low -- only about 27 percent of eligible voters, compared with 35 percent in the 2000 parliamentary elections -- reflecting public dissatisfaction amid calls for a boycott, lack of challengers and disillusionment due to the opposition infighting.

The Japan Times Weekly: June 4, 2005
(C) All rights reserved