2018 Lebanese general election in Bekaa I

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| ← 2009 | 23 March 2021[1] | 2022 →

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7 seats in the Lebanese parliament for the Bekaa I constituency
Turnout| 54.52%
| Party  | Leader  | Vote %  | Seats  | +/–

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| Lebanese Forces | Samir Geagea | 16.28  | 2  |
| Hezbollah | Hassan Nasrallah | 17.02  | 1  |
| Future Movement | Saad Hariri | 12.19  | 1  |
| Free Patriotic Movement | Gebran Bassil | 6.07  | 1  |
| Popular Bloc | Myriam Skaff | 11.87  | 0  |

This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Result of each list per municipality, Zahle District

Voting to elect seven members of the Lebanese parliament took place in the Bekaa I district (one of three electoral districts in Bekaa region) on 6 May 2018, part of the general election of that year. The constituency had 172,555 voters,[2][3] out of whom 94,082 voted. The district elects 2 Greek Catholic parliamentarians, 1 Maronite, 1 Greek Orthodox, 1 Armenian Orthodox, 1 Shia and 1 Sunni.

## Background

[edit]

Local politics in Zahle has for long been dominated by the Skaff clan, ever since the French Mandate administration chose to benefit the family in order to counter the influence of other local elites.[4] But the election of Zahle politician Elias Hrawi as President of Lebanon challenged the position of the Skaff bloc leader Elias J. Skaff. In the 1990s pro-Syrian forces opted to rally behind the city mayor and lawyer Nicolas Fattouch, creating an alternative bloc of political power.[5] During the elections of 1992, 1996 and 2000 the influence of the Skaff family gradually declined.[5]

## Demographics

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The electorate in the first Bekaa electoral district is predominately Christian.[6] Ahead of the 2018 elections, electoral district had 172,555 registered voters; 48,867 Sunni (28.32%), 27,538 Shia (15.96%), 906 Druze (0.53%), 32,295 Greek Catholic (18.72%), 27,049 Maronite (15.68%), 16,470 Greek Orthodox (9.54%), 8,604 Armenian Orthodox (4.99%), 6,646 Syriac Orthodox and Syriac Catholic (3.85%), 1,846 Armenian Catholic (1.07%), 1,349 Evangelical (0.78%) and 985 from other sects (0.57%).[7]

## Vote

[edit]

5 lists were registered in the electoral district for the 2018 Lebanese general election.[8] An alliance of Free Patriotic Movement, Future Movement, Tashnaq and independents was announced with the candidature name "Zahle for All".[9][10] Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb Party fielded the "Zahle is Our Cause" list.[10] There were also the "Popular Bloc" list led by Myriam Skaff, "Zahle Options and Decisions" led by Nicolas Fattouch (including a Hezbollah candidate) and the civil society list "We are All National".[10] Ashraf Rifi did not field a list in Zahle, as he failed to reach an alliance with Kataeb and Lebanese Forces on the matter.[11] Commenting on the pre-electoral alliance-building in Zahle, an Al-Jazeera journalist noted "[b]izarre alliances competing for one eastern city's seven seats reflect maneuvering for votes in parliamentary elections".[12]

### Candidates

[edit]

Bold indicates incumbent parliamentarian, green winning candidate

List  | Votes  | %  | Seats  | Greek Catholic, 2 seats  | Maronite, 1 seat  | Greek Orthodox, 1 seat  | Sunni, 1 seat  | Shia, 1 seat  | Armenian Orthodox, 1 seat

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| "Zahle for All"  | 36,391  | 39.70  | 3  | Michel George Daher
9,742 (10.63%)  | Michel Skaff

987 (1.08%)

| Salim Aoun
(FPM)[13]
5,567 (6.07%)  | Assaad Nakad

4,138 (4.51%)

| Asim Araji
(Future)[14]
7,224 (7.88%)  | Nizar Dalloul

(Future)[14]

3,947 (4.31%)

| Marie-Jeanne Bilezikjian

3,851 (4.20%)

| "Zahle Options and Decisions"  | 23,546  | 25.69  | 2  | Nicolas Fattouch

5,737 (6.26%)

|  | Khalil Hrawi

343 (0.37%)

| Nassif Al-Tini

(SSNP)[15]

528 (0.58%)

| Wajih Araji

592 (0.65%)

| Anwar Jomaa
(Hezbollah)[16]
15,601 (17.02%)  | Eddie Demirjian
77 (0.08%)
| "Zahle is Our Cause"  | 18,702  | 20.40  | 2  | George Akeis
(Lebanese Forces)[17]
11,363 (12.40%)  | Michel Fattouch

552 (0.60%)

| Elie Maroni

(Kataeb)[18]

1,213 (1.32%)

| César Maalouf
3,554 (3.88%)  | Muhammad Ali Mita

1,370 (1.49%)

| Amer Sabouri

111 (0.12%)

| Boughous Kordian

142 (0.15%)

| "Popular Bloc"  | 10,885  | 11.87  | 0  | Mariam Skaff

6,348 (6.92%)

| Nicola Amorri

95 (0.10%)

| Paul Charbel

824 (0.90%)

| Nicola Saba

271 (0.30%)

| Ahmed Ajoumi

1,008 (1.10%)

| Osama Salhab

172 (0.19%)

| George Bushikian

1,845 (2.01%)

| "We are All National"  | 1,599  | 1.74  | 0  | Ghassan Maalouf

651 (0.71%)

|  | Hanna Habib

287 (0.31%)

| Vanda Chedid

(Green)[19]

268 (0.29%)

| Houd Taaïmi

201 (0.22%)

| Mohammad Hassan

71 (0.08%)

Source: Al-Liwaa,[20] ACE Project,[21] Ministry of Interior and Municipalities[22][23]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Israel Election Results: Exit Polls and Real-time Vote Count Updates". Haaretz. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
2. ^ "Daily Star". Archived from the original on 2018-08-24. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
3. ^ "Daily Star". Archived from the original on 2018-04-22. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
4. ^ Le Monde. Elias Skaff, baron chrétien de la Békaa au service de l'opposition libanaise
5. ^ a b Franck Mermier; Sabrina Mervin (2012). Leaders et partisans au Liban. KARTHALA Editions. p. 451\. ISBN 978-2-8111-0595-2.
6. ^ دائرة البقاع الاولى Archived 2018-05-19 at the Wayback Machine. Annahar
7. ^ Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Political Party Mapping in Lebanon Ahead of the 2018 Elections
8. ^ 77 لائحة تُقصي 334 مرشحاً: لبنان إلى الانتخابات Al-Akhbar
9. ^ اعلان لوائح في صيدا - جزين وزحلة وعكار Archived 2018-03-27 at the Wayback Machine. An-Nahar
10. ^ a b c 13 لائحة في البقاع: أم معارك حزب الله. Al-Modon
11. ^ زحلة دائرة المفاجآت... والأرمني عقدة. Al-Akhbar
12. ^ Al-Jazeera. In Lebanon's Zahle, elections are local
13. ^ Daily Star. FPM announces 46 candidates for elections
14. ^ a b mtv. Names of Future Movement candidates for the parliamentary elections
15. ^ "القومي" يعلن عن مرشحيه في 7 دوائر معاهداً العمل للبنان المواطنة والعدالة. Al Markazia
16. ^ Al-Monitor. Lebanon's new electoral law could spell trouble for traditional parties
17. ^ LBCI. REPORT: Who are LF candidates for upcoming elections?
18. ^ kataeb.org. Kataeb Party Announces Candidates for Parliamentary Polls Archived 2018-05-09 at the Wayback Machine
19. ^ L'Orient Le Jour. Zahlé, une bataille charnière qui gagne tous les jours en fièvre Archived 2018-06-20 at the Wayback Machine
20. ^ اعلان لائحة "زحلة للكل"... وهذه هي الأسماء. Al-Liwaa
21. ^ Table Attached to Law 44 dated 17/6/2017 (Official Gazette no.27 dated 17 June 2017) - Distribution of Seats to the Confessions and Districts ACE Project
22. ^ اللوائح المسجلَّة في دائرة البقاع الاولى كما نشرتها المديرية العامة للشؤون السياسية واللاجئين. Ministry of Interior and Municipalities
23. ^ نتائج الإنتخابات النيابية العامة 2018. Ministry of Interior and Municipalities

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2018 Lebanese general election

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