In Lebanon’s parliamentary elections, the Iran-backed Shia Muslim Hezbollah movement and its allies lost their majority number of seats. The results of Sunday’s election shows that the bloc’s candidates won 62 of 128 seats, three fewer than it needed to maintain a majority. While Hezbollah itself retained its own seats, its ally party President Michel Aoun’s Christian Free Patriotic Movement lost support. A rival Christian party that boasts close ties with Saudi Arabia, the Lebanese Forces, made gains in the recent elections and key candidates promising reforms in Lebanon won 13 seats.
However, there was no outright winner in the recent elections. Lebanon’s rigid political infrastructure that emphasizes power-sharing means that the possibility of significant change is low. The election is the first held since 2019 amid a nationwide uprising against political elites that are seen as corrupt and ineffective by its people. Lebanon’s government has been through economic and societal turmoil since its last election, marked by food shortages and a steep increase in the percentage of Lebanon’s population living in poverty.
Read More: Hezbollah and allies lose parliamentary majority in Lebanon election
