Hezbollah Loses Lebanese Parliamentary Election, Opponent Strengthens

BEIRUT – The Hezbollah group and its allies appear to have suffered defeat in the Lebanese parliamentary elections this weekend.

Preliminary results on Monday’s tally showed their strongest opponents took more seats and some of their traditional partners were knocked out of the legislature.

Despite the apparent setback, Hezbollah and its main Shia ally, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s Amal group, are likely to keep the 27 seats allocated to the camp.

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However, it is unclear whether the Iran-backed group and its allies will retain the majority they have held since 2018, when they had 71 of the 128 seats in parliament.

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Meanwhile, the independent camp, including from the 2019 protest movement, won 10 seats. The achievement is major considering they entered into a fragmented ballot and faced intimidation and threats by mainstream parties.

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The result sends a strong message to ruling class politicians who have kept their seats despite the devastating economic collapse that has plunged large parts of the country into poverty.

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