Lebanese general election, 2005
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The 2005 Lebanese General Elections were the first elections in thirty years without a Syrian military or intelligence presence in Lebanon. The Lebanese elected 128 MPs, with equal representation for Christians and Muslims. Many Lebanese felt that the elections, which were won by an anti-Syrian coalition led by Saad Hariri, constituted the end of the Cedar Revolution. These elections were the first in Lebanese history to be won outright by a single electoral block.
Results
First round
The first round was held on May 29, 2005 in Beirut. The Rafik Hariri Martyr List, a coalition of Saad Hariri's Current for the Future, the Progressive Socialist Party and other anti-Syrian parties, won all 19 seats. Saad Hariri is the son of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri who was assassinated in February 2005, in a car bombing in Beirut. The coalition left one seat free for a Shiite candidate from Hezbollah.Second round
The second round was held on June 5 in South Lebanon and Nabatyeh Governorate. The Resistance and Development Bloc, a joint ticket by the two main Shiite parties Amal and Hezbollah, in addition to Bahiya Al-Hariri, the sister of the assassinated late Prime Minister Rafic Al-Hariri and Oussama Saad from Sidon, won all 23 seats. Official tallies showed the Resistance and Development Bloc receiving more than 80% of the vote. The head of Amal, Nabih Berri, said in a news conference held in Mosseileh: "The South has declared clearly and before international observers its backing for the resistance as a path for the past, present and future." Berri said the elected MPs would not let Hezbollah be disarmed.Third round
The third round was held on June 12 in Beqaa and Mount Lebanon. In Mount Lebanon the Hariri List won 17 seats, as did the Aoun Alliance, made up of Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement and two smaller parties; Hezbollah won one. In Beqaa, the Resistance and Development Bloc won 11 seats, the Hariri List eight, and the Aoun Alliance four.Fourth round
The fourth and final round was held on June 20 in North Lebanon. The Hariri List won all 28 seats, giving them a total of 72 of the National Assembly's 128 seats.Total
Turnout
In the first round of the elections, the turnout was only 28%. In the second round of the elections which Hezbollah and Amal easily won, the turnout was between 43 and 55%.[Angus Reid Consultants - Election Tracker]
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