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  • Beirut polls leave some with sour taste

    Daily Star - Lebanon, Lebanon
    May 30 2005

    Beirut polls leave some with sour taste
    A common complaint: Saad Hariri's victory was too predictable

    By Rym Ghazal
    Daily Star staff
    Tuesday, May 31, 2005



    BEIRUT: While Saad Hariri's clean sweep of all 19 seats in Beirut
    didn't come as much of a surprise to the majority of Beirutis, it has
    left some with a sour taste in their mouths.

    Mohammad Basiri, 45, said: "It wasn't much of an election as it was
    just one plate being served; Hariri sprinkled with what would seem to
    be a representative group of spices."

    Basiri supports the Ahbash group, a fundamental Sunni group whose
    candidates were among the many who failed to defeat Hariri's lists.

    Basiri didn't vote, and said he won't until he sees a real change in
    Lebanese elections where "all candidates have a fair run."

    He added: "No more lists under one name. That is not democracy, and
    the small voter turnout is a reflection of the disappointment of
    people in the Lebanese elections."

    Basiri was one of a few Ahbash followers who agreed to give his name,
    while others interviewed held their tongue, citing fear of "being
    attacked by Hariri supporters."

    Security was tight around Al-Dewan supermarket - a vendor frequented
    by Ahbash members - with army troops on guard after witnesses
    reported clashes Sunday night between young supporters of Ahbash and
    Hariri.

    Yet some areas in Beirut, such as Bourj Hammoud, appeared to have
    been untouched by the elections.

    The predominantly Armenian neighborhood's Tashnag Party had called
    for a boycott of the elections due to the adoption of a disputed
    electoral law.

    As a result Bourj Hammoud seemed stark naked in comparison to the
    other Armenian neighborhoods in the capital painted in Hariri posters
    and those of his candidates.


    Rita, a 43-year-old Armenian merchant, said: "Our voices are not
    heard anyway, so why vote?"

    She added: "Sadly, I don't see much of a difference after the Syrians
    left. It is the same people in power and the same people running the
    show; no new faces or any changes," recalling the 1992 election was
    the "fairest, as we got to pick who we wanted."

    Meanwhile, for those who supported Hariri's list, Monday was a day
    for celebration.

    Mirna Terk, 24, was one of the demonstrators at Martyrs' Square
    calling for the withdrawal of Syrian troops after the assassination
    of Rafik Hariri. She hit the streets once more Sunday night, but this
    time to cheer his son's decisive victory.

    She said: "Hariri's is a well known and respected family, and so I
    believe Saad will continue the traditions of his father of rebuilding
    and educating those who can't afford to go to school."

    She added: "All of my friends are celebrating [except for] some of my
    Christian classmates who were unhappy with the elections and didn't
    vote and would like the election law to change."

    But other Beirutis, such as 80-year-old retired surgeon Ali Raad,
    feel Sunday's polls should be a lesson for voters "not to take things
    for granted."

    Anxiously awaiting the polls in the North, where he is registered,
    Raad said: "I am with Saad Hariri like everyone else, but I will be
    more selective with the people on his list, as many of them are not
    really worthy of my vote."
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