Early results released on Monday suggest that Hezbollah’s allies in Lebanon’s parliamentary elections on Sunday suffered defeats.
Hezbollah and its Shia ally Amal Movement have held their seats in Lebanon’s 128-seat parliament, according to unofficial figures.
The Free Patriotic Movement, a Hezbollah ally, got just 17 seats in Sunday’s poll, down from 24 seats in the outgoing parliament.
Druze politicians Wiam Wahhab and Talal Arslan, both of whom were close allies of Hezbollah, were ousted from office in Sunday’s elections.
According to early results, independents have gained five members in the new assembly, up from only one in the outgoing parliament.
Hezbollah opponents are expected to win 21 seats in parliament, up from 15 seats in the outgoing parliament.
On Sunday, Lebanon held its first parliamentary elections since a blast at the Beirut port in 2020 killed more than 200 people and injured thousands.
There has been an economic crisis in the Arab country since late 2019, with currency depreciation and gasoline and medical shortages among the issues that have plagued the country.
According to the Interior Ministry, Sunday’s voter turnout was 41 percent, down from the last election’s record high of nearly 50 percent.
We had been anticipating hearing more about the final outcomes later in the day on Monday.
