Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said that all Lebanese are called to appeal to the choices of the people who said their word in the legislative elections that were held 3 days ago, while the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gibran Bassil, considered that his movement won the electoral battle.

Berri - who leads the Amal movement allied with Hezbollah - said in a speech on Tuesday that the electoral process turned into a "referendum on national principles", calling on all forces to put aside what he described as inflammatory rhetoric, and to be convinced to live together in one country, as he said.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, which was the largest Christian party in the Lebanese parliament, stated that his movement has the largest bloc in the legislative institution, with the results of the parliamentary elections that were held last Sunday, and the Lebanese Forces party led by Samir Geagea raised the number of its seats from 15 in the parliament. 2018 elections to 18 seats currently.

The leader of the Free Movement said in a press conference in Beirut that the division has increased within Parliament, and that this makes the process of legislation and the formation of the majority difficult, expressing his movement's readiness to work with the elected representatives of civil society representatives in Parliament and the government.

Bassil said that the election results will increase the division within Parliament and make the process of legislation and the formation of a majority difficult (Reuters)

Majority loss

Yesterday, Tuesday, the Ministry of the Interior announced the final results of the legislative elections, which showed the forces of what was known as the eighth of March losing the parliamentary majority they had held for years.

During the last elections in 2018, Hezbollah and its allies (led by the Free Movement) won a majority of 71 seats in parliament.

According to the official final results of last Sunday's poll, the Lebanese Forces Party and the Free Patriotic Movement tied the number of representatives obtained by the two parties (18 each), while Hezbollah and the Amal Movement retained all Shiite seats (30).

Civil society achieved a breakthrough, for the first time, with 12 seats in Parliament out of a total of 128 members in the legislative institution.

The results also showed that the Progressive Socialist Party won 9 seats, the Kataeb Party 4 seats, and the Tashnaq Party and Marada Movement received 2 seats each.


International parking

The spokeswoman for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Anne-Claire Le Gondre, considered that Lebanon has taken, with the legislative elections, an important step in the context of the serious crisis that the country has been experiencing for more than two years.

However, it deplores what it described as the events and irregularities observed by the European Union Election Observation Mission, and hopes to shed light on this issue.

The French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman indicated that her country encourages all Lebanese leaders to appoint a prime minister without delay and to form a new government in order to take the necessary measures to restore the country's health, especially on the basis of the framework agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, also congratulated the Lebanese on the parliamentary elections, and said that he "impatiently awaits the formation of a comprehensive government that can complete the agreement with the International Monetary Fund and accelerate the implementation of the necessary reforms to put Lebanon on the path of economic recovery."

Guterres appealed to the Lebanese political leaders to work together in the best interests of Lebanon and the Lebanese people.

The European Union Election Observation Mission said in a preliminary statement on Tuesday that the parliamentary elections in Lebanon were "overshadowed by widespread vote-buying, nepotism and corruption".

The European Union Election Observation Mission in Lebanon said that the voting was overshadowed by (European) vote buying and nepotism practices.

emerging power

The 13 independents who won seats in the Lebanese Parliament are considered new faces and have never held any political positions in a country whose political system is based on sectarian quotas.

Their access to Parliament would allow them to form with other deputies independent of the traditional parties a united bloc in Parliament.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Beirut, Mazen Ibrahim, said that Lebanon has become today, after this election, in the face of a complex and complex parliament that includes a large mosaic, and no parliamentary group is left with a majority, as the March 8 forces have practically become without a majority as it has been the case over the past years, as well as the forces of March 14.

But the main variable today - the reporter adds - is that there is now a third force (from civil society) if it manages to unite in one bloc without ideological differences between them, or in how to approach matters, it will be able to hold the government to account on an ongoing basis, which may confuse The work of the traditional parties that have governed the political course of Lebanon since the civil war.

Future Stream

The parliamentary elections in the country this year witnessed a fundamental change represented in the absence of the Future Movement, which for three decades constituted the backbone of the Sunni community politically.

A few months ago, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the leader of the Future Movement, announced the suspension of his political activity, a declaration that observers expected would have an impact on the political representation of the Sunni community in the Lebanese scene during the next stage.

The current elections are the first of their kind after a series of crises that shook Lebanon during the past two years, including an economic collapse, unprecedented popular protests against the authority, and a catastrophic explosion in Beirut.