Round 2 of Lebanese Elections Boycotted by Christian Voters

BEIRUT —  A boycott of the polls by about 350,000 Christian voters dealt a setback to the government Sunday in round two, held in Beirut and the nearby central mountains, of Lebanon’s first parliamentary elections since 1972.

Church bells echoed through deserted streets of Christian areas as citizens stayed away from polling places to protest the continued presence in Lebanon of Syrian troops and Syria’s alleged interference in the elections.

In the village of Annaya, government officials set up polling booths under an oak tree because townspeople refused to let any public building be used for voting. By midday, none of Annaya’s 4,000 voters had cast a ballot.

A total of 980,000 citizens are eligible to vote in Beirut and its environs, but even in the most active areas turnout was light.

Results released early today for the Christian Baabda district in Mt. Lebanon showed that three pro-Syrian Christians, one Shiite Muslim and one Druze as well as a pro-Iranian Hezbollah candidate won seats in the 128-member national assembly.

In the mountain town of Douar el Choueir, villagers had said they were afraid to vote and afraid not to. “If I vote, the Syrians might ask me who I voted for,” one worried resident said. “If I don’t vote, they might take notice and put my name on a list.”

Douar el Choueir, a strategic area, has been occupied by Syrian troops for years. Hotels and homes were looted and then taken over by Syrian soldiers for barracks.

Hezbollah, a pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim group that made gains in last week’s first round of balloting, held in the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon, had urged its followers to turn out in full force, saying “your vote is your witness and will be counted on Judgment Day.”

Having virtually no political parties, Lebanese candidates run as independents under religious banners. They join in political marriages of convenience for the campaign period. After elections, these tickets are dissolved.

In the Christian-dominated Kasrawan mountain range north of Beirut, the government postponed voting because only one candidate was left running for the five Maronite Christian seats.