Iran-backed Hezbollah and its allies have lost their majority in Lebanon’s parliament after the country’s general election results were announced. The Shia party’s allies suffered losses across the country, according to results released by the Interior Ministry on Tuesday. The pro-Hezbollah bloc secured 58 seats, fewer than the 65 seats needed to secure a majority, and down from 71 in the previous parliament. The Free Patriotic Movement, a Hezbollah ally, is no longer the country’s largest Christian parliamentary bloc, winning 18 seats in Sunday’s elections, compared with 20 for its United States- and Saudi Arabia-backed rival the Lebanese Forces. Other key Hezbollah allies, such as Druze leader Talal Arslan in Aley, and Sunni leader Faysal Karame in Tripoli, also lost their seats to anti-establishment candidates.
The country’s new parliament will now have to appoint a prime minister-elect and form a new government in order to resume IMF negotiations and enact economic and structural reforms to help the Lebanese economy reemerge after years of tumult. Over three-quarters of the population lives in poverty. Lebanon’s 128-seat parliament is split among its many Muslim and Christian sects. The country’s sectarian power-sharing system dictates that the president is a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of parliament a Shia Muslim. Elections observers have accused the authorities and political parties of corruption and violence.
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