Al-Ahram Weekly | Region | All in the family

		13 - 19 June 2002 Issue No.590 Region	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

All in the family
A by-election for an Orthodox parliamentary seat in Mount Lebanon has precipitated a new political battle between the government and the opposition. Zeina Abu Rizk reports from Beirut

Click to view caption
Supporters of Gabriel Murr celebrate his victory

The fierce political struggle over an Orthodox parliamentary seat in the Christian Metn constituency of Mount Lebanon has revived political tension in Lebanon during the past week. The results of the by-election, frozen for more than a week, and officially proclaimed an opposition victory on Monday, highlighted the pervasive tension in the country's political scene.
The by-election for the Metn constituency took place on 2 June, two months after the death of the district's member of parliament, Albert Moukheiber, an eminent opposition figure who returned to political life in 1996 after boycotting the post-civil war political establishment for several years.
What was expected to be a quiet contest to fill a vacant seat until the next parliamentary elections in May 2005 turned into a fierce political battle drawing in political figures at various levels.
Three main candidates participated in the by- election: Myrna Murr, the government-backed candidate, daughter of Michel Murr, and Interior Minister Elias Murr's sister; Gabriel Murr, the opposition-backed candidate and Michel Murr's brother, but also his political and personal enemy; and Ghassan Moukheiber, Albert Moukheiber's nephew, who ran as an independent and achieved lacklustre results of fewer than 2,000 votes.
The preliminary results favoured the opposition candidate Gabriel over the government candidate Myrna by a three-vote margin. Each of the Murrs had obtained approximately 35,000 votes. However, those results included votes that were subsequently disqualified because they were cast at a polling station where irregularities had taken place, according to the ruling by one of the judges overseeing the vote- counting process.
The disqualification of the votes cast at that station would have given Myrna Murr the upper hand over her uncle Gabriel. Consequently a fight erupted over the legality of eliminating the votes. In a statement at that point, the interior minister referred to other counting errors that had reportedly been made. The already ambiguous situation was aggravated by reported legal mistakes having to do with the announcement of the final results, putting those on hold for a while.
The controversy rapidly turned into an argument between the interior minister and Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Minister of Interior Elias Murr accused the premier of interfering in favour of Gabriel Murr by using his influence over judges overseeing the vote- counting process. By supporting the opposition candidate, Hariri would be indirectly targeting President Emile Lahoud.
The uproar over the Metn elections was not surprising for political observers. The Metn region is President Emile Lahoud's hometown as well as the homeland of eminent Maronite opposition figures, including MP Nassib Lahoud, considered a moderate opposition politician, and former President Amine Gemayel, who spent more than a decade in political exile in France, returning to the country only last year.
By achieving a victory over the candidates backed by the present regime, the moderate Christian opposition hoped to enhance its chances of winning the next presidential elections, when the time comes to choose between a new president for the country or renew Emile Lahoud's term -- an issue over which Syria will have the final say.
For Damascus, it is still too early to discuss the next presidential term. As for the Metn electoral question, Syrian officials paid it little attention, commenting on the political turmoil that erupted following uncertainty over the winner's identity by saying that the upheaval was out of proportion with the importance of the matter at stake.
According to officials in Damascus, Syria is primarily concerned with maintaining political stability and avoiding any kind of unrest or bloodshed so that it can focus on more pressing issues of regional concern.

Send a letter to the Editor Recommend this page

ARCHIVES
Letter from the Editor
Editorial Board
Subscription
Advertise!

WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly
Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time
weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg

Al-Ahram Organisation