Post by ahmad on Aug 5, 2007 21:09:30 GMT -5
BEIRUT, Lebanon (Reuters) -- Lebanon's Christian opposition leader said his candidate had won a crucial by-election to parliament but his opponent indicated he had taken the seat and urged supporters to wait for the final result.
Lebanese women wait in line to cast their votes in Beirut.
Tens of thousands of Lebanese voted to choose successors to two assassinated anti-Syrian politicians in the latest showdown between the Western-backed government and its opponents, locked in a bitter 9-month-old power struggle.
Maronite Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun said his candidate had closely beaten Amin Gemayel, a former president and a key member of the ruling coalition, in the by-election in the Metn district northeast of Beirut.
But later, Gemayel appeared to claim victory and urged supporters to wait for the final official result. The Interior Ministry said it would announce the outcome once electoral authorities finish the counting.
"He who has declared victory ... must wait (for the official result) because in the end we have won," Gemayel told supporters at his home town in Bikfaya. He then indicated he would resort to the courts if he was declared the loser.
Lebanese troops intervened to break up several clashes with fists and sticks between supporters of both camps north of Beirut after the rival claims. Two people suffered gunshot wounds.
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The political struggle has caused the worst civil strife since the 1975-1990 war, and some feared a new outbreak of violence during voting.
The race to win the Maronite seat left empty after Gemayel's son Pierre, a cabinet minister and an MP, was killed in November had shaped up as a test of strength between both camps weeks before parliament was due to elect a Maronite as president.
Opposition sources said Camille Khoury had won by a margin of few hundred votes from around 80,000 cast, a healthy turnout of around 48 percent. Gemayel disputed that, saying a recount was underway after alleged cases of fraud.
Anti-Syrian Druze leader Walid Jumblatt told the LBC television station that regardless of the final result, Gemayel had already won by vastly improving the showing of the majority coalition in the Christian heartland compared to general polls in 2005.
Aoun's candidates easily swept seats in Metn in 2005, bolstering his claim to being the strongest Christian leader, and allowing him to stake a claim for the presidency.
Lebanon has been locked in a power struggle over demands by the opposition, which groups Aoun with Hezbollah and other Syrian allies, for veto power in government.
Unofficial results showed pro-government candidate Mohammad Amin Itani winning by a large margin the Sunni Muslim seat in a Beirut district vacated by the killing of MP Walid Eido in June in a low turnout of around 20 percent. The opposition had not run a serious candidate in that by-election.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora hailed the by-elections as a civilized response to political assassination. "Democracy in Lebanon will defeat terrorism," he said in a statement.
Thousands of Lebanese troops and police tightened security in Metn, where flags and posters of the rival parties adorned balconies, electricity poles and cars.
Both Aoun and Gemayel, leader of the Phalange Party, had savaged each other during campaigning and both camps exchanged charges of forgery and vote-buying on election day.
Gemayel is a key player in the anti-Syrian majority coalition, which is supported by the United States, France and Saudi Arabia. Aoun is the main Christian leader in the opposition, which includes Hezbollah, an ally of Syria and Iran.
Gemayel and his allies accuse Syria of orchestrating the killing of Pierre Gemayel, Eido and other anti-Syrian figures. Damascus denies involvement in the killings.
Maronites once dominated Lebanese politics and, while the presidency is still reserved for the sect, the post was stripped of some of its powers by a deal which ended the civil war. E-mail to a friend
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