Lebanon starts last round of parliamentary elections

Polling stations in northern Lebanon opened Sunday morning for voters to cast their ballots to choose 28 lawmakers in the fourth and final round of the parliamentary elections.

Some 700,000 eligible voters aged over 21 in two constituencies are expected to cast their ballots to choose 13 Muslim and 15 Christian representatives in the 128-seat parliament.

Being the first ballot in Lebanon after Syria withdrew its troops after a 29-year presence, it was held on four consecutive Sundays from May 29 until June 19 in different constituencies across the country.

The opposition party led by son of the slain former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, Saad al-Hariri, 35, claimed a sweeping victory by winning the capital's all 19 seats in the first round.

The pro-Syrian Shiite alliance of Amal movement and Hezbollah won all the 23 seats in south Lebanon polls on June 5 in the second round.

Last Sunday, voters in Mount Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley cast their ballots for the third round of the elections.

Among the 58 seats up for grabs in the round, Druze opposition leader Walid Jumblatt's list won 27 seats in central Mount Lebanon in the polls.

Meanwhile, anti-Syrian Christian leader Michel Aoun and his allies won 21 seats in the Maronite Christian heartlands northeast of Beirut, and pro-Syrian Hezbollah won 10 seats in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Syria completed troops withdrawal from its tiny neighbour on April 26 under intense international pressure and mass Lebanese protests following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri on Feb. 14.

The death of Hariri, a Sunni and the major architect of Lebanon 's post-civil war reconstruction, also plunged Lebanon into a political crisis and forced the resignation of its pro-Syrian government.

Source: Xinhua