Contrary to the case of most Lebanese electoral constituencies, a heavy turnout was witnessed in the Baalbek-Hermel district in the parliamentary elections that were held in Sunday.
The heated battle between the March 8 and 14 camps also saw hundreds of Lebanese living in neighboring Syria flock to the polling stations.
Around 2,100 Lebanese living in the Syrian border town of Matraba arrived in Hermel on Sunday from the northern Bekaa crossing after the General Security opened a temporary border gate allowing them into the country.
Another 700 voters entered from Syrian territories through a legal border crossing that facilitated the entry of Lebanese nationals living in Syrian villages near the Anti-Lebanon Mountain Range.
“A few days ago, ‘Hezbollah’ was seen preparing large buses to transport Lebanese from and to Syria to vote in the parliamentary elections,” a source from the Mustaqbal Movement told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Three lists competed in the Bekaa-Hermel district: The “Hope and Loyalty” list supported by “Hezbollah” and Amal, “Dignity and Loyalty” list supported by the LF and Mustaqbal and National Cedar list supported by local families and civil society groups.
About 324,000 voters are registered in the Bekaa-Hermel district, with Shi’ites making up 73 percent of them and Christians accounting for 22,679 votes. They will cast their ballots for nine Shi’ite, two Sunni and two Christian deputies.
By Sunday afternoon, 58 percent of registered voters had cast their ballots in the Bekaa district, where a list supported by the Sh’ite duo of “Hezbollah” and Amal competed with a list backed by the Mustaqbal Movement and Lebanese Forces (LF).
The Shi’ite duo exerted efforts to raise the voter turnout and therefore increase the electoral quotient to 18,000, making it difficult for the competing list to secure enough votes to win seats.
Meanwhile, the Mustaqbal Movement and the LF had bet on increasing the number of voters in Sunni-majority areas in Arsal, the Northern Bekaa and Baalbek.
