Anti-Syrian general secures election win

THE firebrand former general Michel Aoun emerged yesterday as Lebanon’s main Christian political force after scoring a stunning win in parliamentary elections only weeks after returning from exile.

Mr Aoun, prominent during Lebanon’s civil war, dealt a major blow to the existing Christian opposition and its hopes of securing strong representation in the new parliament to chart a course away from Syrian influence.

The polls, being held over four weekends ending on June 19, are the first for three decades without the presence of Syrian troops and are set to usher in an assembly with an anti-Syrian majority for the first time since the 1975-1990 civil war.

But Mr Aoun’s victory could complicate the new political landscape in highly factionalised Lebanon as it boosts the chances of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud staying in power. Mr Aoun has questioned opposition demands for Lahoud to go.

Though staunchly anti-Syrian, since returning from exile Mr Aoun has fallen out with the established opposition forces with which he sided in the drive to force Syria out.

He accuses many of its key figures of corruption and of dealing with the Syrians since the civil war.

Mr Aoun’s supporters say his exile kept him untainted by years of corruption among Lebanese politicians while Syria held sway, and accuse his rivals of trying to contain his influence.

“What does the unity of the opposition mean? It was all hollow,” Mr Aoun told a news conference yesterday.

“It had no program. When we came up with one, they were not willing to discuss it. This is a country that should be built on sound foundations, the first of which is combating corruption in the state. But this was what turned everyone against us.”

Official final results yesterday showed candidates backed by Mr Aoun won 15 of 16 seats in Sunday’s third round of the polls, held in the Maronite Christian heartland north-east of Beirut. There was no Aoun-allied candidate for the last seat.

The As-Safir newspaper said Mr Aoun had now established a greater hold over Lebanon’s Christian community than any political leader since the civil war.

Ordinary people in the Christian heartland agreed.

“This victory will give the Christians a morale boost after 15 years of misery under politicians who have cared only about their own interests,” said 24-year-old carpenter Bechara Matta.

Mr Aoun, who launched a failed “war of liberation” against Syrian forces in Lebanon in 1989, was forced into exile after his revolt was crushed in 1990.

He spent 14 years in France before returning in May, two weeks after Syrian troops left. In exile, he lobbied for world support to force Syria out, claiming some credit for a September 2004 UN resolution demanding a withdrawal.

Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon in April after international pressure and mass street protests sparked by the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri.

Candidates backed by Mr Aoun narrowly lost to opponents supported by Druze chieftain Walid Jumblatt in the Baabda-Aley district, where 11 seats were contested.

Mr Jumblatt, whose candidates won all eight seats in his mainly Druze stronghold of Shouf, said Mr Aoun’s win in Christian areas was a defeat for moderation, and that he was being used by Syria and its Lebanese allies to divide and weaken the Christians.

Mr Aoun snapped back that Mr Jumblatt was suffering from a nervous breakdown and should get treatment.

The pro-Syrian Shi’ite Hizbollah guerrilla group raised their representation in the 128-seat parliament to 35 by winning 10 seats in the eastern Baalbek-Hermel district. Disarmament of Hizbollah is one issue expected to face the new assembly. Under Lebanon’s complex power-sharing system, its seats are divided equally between Christians and Muslims.