Lebanese general election, 2009

Lebanese general election, 2009

7 June 2009
All 128 seats to the Parliament of Lebanon
First party Second party Third party   Leader Saad Hariri Michel Aoun Nabih Berri Party Future Movement Free Patriotic Movement Amal Movement Alliance March 14 March 8 March 8 Leader's seat Beirut 3 Keserwan Zahrani Last election 36 seats 15 seats 14 seats Seats won 33 19 13 Seat change 3 4 1   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Hassan Nasrallah Walid Jumblatt Samir Geagea Party Hezbollah Progressive Socialist Party Lebanese Forces Alliance March 8 None March 14 Leader's seat None Chouf None Last election 14 seats 16 seats 6 seats Seats won 12 11 8 Seat change 2 5 2   Seventh party Eighth party   Leader Amine Gemayel Suleiman Frangieh, Jr. Party Kataeb Party Marada Movement Alliance March 14 March 8 Leader's seat None Zgharta Last election 2 seats 0 seats Seats won 5 3 Seat change 3 3
Areas with a March 14 majority in blue, areas with a March 8 majority in orange
Prime Minister before election Fouad Siniora March 14 Elected Prime Minister Saad Hariri March 14

Lebanon
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Parliamentary elections were held in Lebanon on 7 June 2009.^[1][2]

Background

Prior to the election, the process to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 years was put into motion, but as this requires a constitutional amendment, it did not happen before the election.^[3]

Allocation of seats

Following a compromise reached in the Doha Agreement on May 2008 between the government and opposition, a new electoral law was put in place, as shown in the table below.^[4] It was passed on 29 September 2008.^[5]

Results

Logo of the Lebanese general election, 2009

Preliminary results indicated that the turnout had been as high as 55%.^[7] The March 14 Alliance garnered 71 seats in the 128-member parliament, while the March 8 Alliance won 57 seats. This result is virtually the same as the result from the election in 2005. However, the March 14 alliance saw this as a moral victory over Hezbollah, who led the March 8 Alliance, and the balance of power was expected to shift in its favor.^[8] Many observers expect to see the emergence of a National Unity Government similar to that created following the Doha Agreement in 2008.^[9]

Formation of government

As is typical of Lebanese politics political wrangling after the elections took 5 months.^[11] Only in November was the composition of the new cabinet agreed upon: 15 seats for the March 14 Alliance, 10 for the March 8 Alliance, and 5 nominated by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, who has cast himself as a neutral party between the two main political blocks.^[12]

Aftermath

The government fell in January 2011 after the March 8 alliance's 11 ministers withdrew from the government over PM Hariri's refusal to convene a cabinet meeting to discuss possible indictments to be issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.^[13]

The March 8 alliance formed a new government in the ensuing six months.

See also

• Lebanese general election, 2005

References

External links

• Official Site
• Foreign Money Seeks to Buy Lebanese Votes, Robert Worth, April 22, 2009, NY Times
• Lebanese Elections 2009 BLOG
• Interactive Result Map
• Obama's Path Passes Through Lebanon by Pol Marillas, Opinion, June 2009; European Union Institute for Security Studies