Unofficial results from Lebanon’s first parliamentary election in almost a decade show that Hezbollah and its political allies have won just over half of the seats.
The interior ministry reported turnout was less than 50% in Lebanon’s first parliamentary election since 2009, despite an estimated 800,000 voters under the age of 30 who were expected to cast ballots for the first time.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trying to hold back Hezbollah’s growing influence is incumbent Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who leads the Mustaqbal, or Future, bloc. Mustaqbal is backed by Saudi Arabia, Iran's Sunni rival, CNN reports, and also favoured by Western governments.
The unofficial tally indicated sharp losses for Hariri, but he is still set to emerge as the Sunni Muslim leader with the biggest bloc in the 128-seat house, “making him the frontrunner to form the next government”, according to Reuters.
Under Lebanon’s complicated sectarian power-sharing constitution, the prime minister must be a Sunni, who presides over a government consisting of all main parties.
Lebanon’s ballooning state debt levels, among the highest in the world, and an influx of over a million refugees from neighbouring Syria are among the most pressing issues facing the new government.
Yet it is Iran’s growing influence in the country, primarily manifested through its support of Hezbollah, that is seen by many abroad as the biggest threat to long-term stability in the region.
However, while they made gains, Hezbollah and its allies fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to make changes to the country’s constitution.
-
Minnesota, Illinois sue to stop ICE ‘invasion’Speed Read Minnesota officials are also seeking a temporary restraining order
-
Is the Chinese embassy a national security risk?Today’s Big Question Keir Starmer set to approve London super-complex, despite objections from MPs and security experts
-
Why X faces UK ban over Grok deepfake nudesThe Explainer Ofcom is investigating whether Elon Musk’s AI chatbot breached Online Safety Act
-
Trump, Iran trade threats as protest deaths riseSpeed Read The death toll in Iran has surpassed 500
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Iran’s government rocked by protestsSpeed Read The death toll from protests sparked by the collapse of Iran’s currency has reached at least 19
-
Why is Iran facing its biggest protests in years?TODAY’S BIG QUESTION Iranians are taking to the streets as a growing movement of civic unrest threatens a fragile stability
-
Why recognizing Somaliland is so risky for IsraelTHE EXPLAINER By wading into one of North Africa’s most fraught political schisms, the Netanyahu government risks further international isolation
-
Israel approves new West Bank settlementsSpeed Read The ‘Israeli onslaught has all but vanquished a free Palestinian existence in the West Bank’
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
