So the elections are finally over- yesterday was the day for voting for Tripoli and the North. There was a lot of speculation beforehand, the race was too close to call. The results from the week before had been somewhat unexpected, with the recently returned General Aoun taking many seats which most had assumed would go to Hariri’s coalition. This had brought up the possibility for there being no majority in Parliament, with a fairly even split between Hariri, Aoun, and Hezbollah/Amal. Many had thought that the opposition (led by Hariri) would easily take the most seats, possibly forcing President Lahoud out of office.

The appeal of General Aoun is curious. He had been forced out at the end of the war by Syria; he was exiled to France. He was finally allowed to return in May, not long before we arrived. He had long been a hero to many Christians, and was greeted by crowds of supporters in Martyr’s Square. However, Aoun was unable to join with the opposition leadership, and took the unlikely route of joining up with pro-Syrian politicians. He and his allies ended up taking the majority of the Parliament seats that were up from grabs last Sunday the 12th.

On Saturday night, the night before the 4th and final election day, we talked to a bartender on Monot St who summed up the feeling among many Christians regarding Aoun. He told us that he hoped Aoun would win again because he is the only politican in Lebanon who is “clean”. And clearly, he is the only one who is clean, because he has been out of the country for 15 years.

As it turns out, Hariri’s coalition seems to have taken the most seats yesterday- at least 21 out of 28, which is what was needed to give them a majority of Parliament. However, I’ve been reading that it is probably not a big enough majority to force President Lahoud to resign.

Last Fall, at Syria’s insistence, Parliament changed the constitution in order to extend Lahoud’s term, which was set to expire. There are a lot of jokes in Lebanon about how Lahoud spends most of his time lounging beside the pool or swimming laps. This makes for some interesting grafitti: “Le president nage et le Liban coule; Le president bronze et le Liban brule” (“The president swims and Lebanon sinks; the president gets a tan and Lebanon burns”).