From: hernlem@chess.ncsu.EDU (Brad Hernlem)
Subject: Lebanese  Elections (was Re: Israel and Kuwait in the Spotlight)
Reply-To: hernlem@chess.ncsu.EDU (Brad Hernlem)
Organization: North Carolina State University
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 17:14:12 GMT


> The recent elections in Lebanon were flawed to a great degree by the
> intimidating presence of 40,000 Syrian troops.  The Maronite
> Christians chose to boycott the elections in the hope that they would
> be postponed for a month, until the Syrian troops left Beruit.

> The Parliment elected was 75% pro-Syrian (according to the Boston
> Globe; does anyone (hi Brad!) have better numbers?  I just don't trust
>                     ^^^^^^^
> the Globe.)

> Its very unfortunate that the elections were not postponed, so that
> all Lebanese could feel comfortable voting.

> Adam

> Adam Shostack 					adam@das.harvard.edu

Well, the use of the description "pro-Syrian" is, of course, very
subjective. I haven't been following the elections extremely closely. I
suggest that if you are interested, please read the articles in
soc.culture.lebanon. Here are a couple of news articles which were
posted there:

[ Article crossposted without permission ]
[ Author was UPI ]
[ Posted on Tue, 8 Sep 92 10:19:17 PDT ]

        SIDON, Lebanon (UPI) -- Lebanon's third and last phase of general
elections in southern Lebanon Tuesday brought more warlords and Muslim
fundamentalists to Parliament.
        According to official results released Tuesday afternnon, the 22-
member list headed by the pro-Syrian Shiite Amal movement leader Nabih
Berri scored a sweeping victory, defeating feudal lord and former House
Speaker Kamel Assad.
        Bahiya Hariri, sister of Lebanese-born Saudi tycoon Rafic Hariri who
was running on Berri's list, won the largest number of votes.
        Mustafa Saad, the blind leader of the Sunni People's Liberation Army
militia, won one of the 23 seats in southern Lebanon.
        Saad lost his sight in a car bomb explosion in the southern port city
of Sidon in 1985. His daughter was killed and his wife severely wounded
in the blast.
        Two candidates of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah were among the winners,
bringing the total number of Hezbollah deputies in the new Parliament to
eight.
        Among the winners were five Christian candidates, two Amal Politburo
members, a Communist Party activist and a member of the Baath Party.
        As soon as the results came out, Saad's supporters took to the
streets in this southern port city, chanting slogans in support of their
leader.
        In the nearby refugee camp of Ein El Helweh, jubilant Palestinian
guerrillas fired machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades into the air.
        The winning candidates in southern Lebanon were strong advocates of
liberating the Israeli-occupied ``security zone,'' which Israel
established to curb cross-border guerrilla infiltration attempts in
1985.
        The 9-mile security zone is patroled by 1,000 Israeli servicemen and
their 2,500-member South Lebanon Army militia.
        Israeli troops and SLA militiamen banned four people from returning
to the border zone after they took part in the southern Lebanon polls,
according to police reports Tuesday.
        Police said they refused to allow a family of four from crossing the
Zimraya passageway linking the ``security zone'' to the village of
Hasbaya late Monday.
        They confiscated their ``laissez-passer'' and ordered them to remain
in the Government-controlled areas, the police said.
        On Sunday, SLA commander Gen. Antoine Lahd ordered his militiamen to
close all passageways and threatened those who crossed the border to
vote with banishment from the security zone.

------
[ Article crossposted without permission ]
[ Author was SID BALMAN Jr. ]
[ Posted on Tue, 8 Sep 92 14:53:49 PDT ]

        WASHINGTON (UPI) -- Voting irregularities and lack of widespread
participation in the first Lebanese elections since 1972 contributed to
a disappointing outcome, an administration spokesman said Tuesday.
        Despite U.S. calls to the contrary, State Department spokesman
Richard Boucher said that voter turnout in some areas was extremely low
and that ``there were also widespread reports of irregularities.''
        ``We repeatedly called for free and fair elections in an environment
that would be devoid of intimidation and coercion,'' Boucher said. ``The
United States is clearly disappointed that the elections were not
prepared and not carried out in a manner to ensure the broadest national
consensus.
        ``I don't think you could say that they were completely free and
fair.''
        Nevertheless, Boucher said, the United States will recognize the
elected government of Lebanon and work with it to help achieve the
administration's broader goals in the region.
        ``We will deal with the Lebanese government,'' Boucher said. ``The
depth of our relationship with any given government depends on a whole
host of factors, depends on the kind of progress towards the important
goals that we like to see accomplished throughout the world.''
        Boucher said Beirut should now focus on rebuilding a nation ripped
apart during 16 years of civil war, reconciling differences between
warring Christian and Moslem factions and reclaiming territory occupied
by Syria and Israel.
        Those principles are embodied in an agreement signed two years ago by
Arab nations and warring Lebanese factions in the Saudi Arabian town of
Taif.
        The Taif accords, which ended the brutal Lebanese civil war, called
in stages for an end to the fighting and then elections.
        The next stage mandates that Syrian peace-keeping troops withdraw
from all of Lebanon to the western edge of the Arab nation's Bekaa
Valley and that Israeli troops withdraw from the so-called security zone
in the south.
        The Taif accords are a cornerstone of U.S. policy toward Lebanon
because they will theoretically stop fighting, close terrorist training
camps in the Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley and enhance the prospects
for a far-reaching Middle East peace agreement.
        But the final round of general elections in Lebanon Tuesday, which
were marred by strong-arm tactics and a boycott, brought more warlords
and Muslim fundamentalists to Parliament.
        The 22-member list headed by the pro-Syrian Shi'ite Amal movement
leader Nabih Berri scored a sweeping victory over feudal lord and former
House Speaker Kamel Assad. Two candidates of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah
were among the winners, bringing the total number of Hezbollah deputies
in the new Parliament to eight.
        Officials sources said the turnout was high in southern Lebanon but
low during the first and second phases in the east and north.
        Gov. Halim Fayyad said it reached 80 percent in the Sidon district
and 50 to 60 percent in Nabatiyeh and Tyre. He said only 15 percent of
voters from Israel's self-declared ``security zone'' participated in the
elections.
        Fayyad said a number of the zone inhabitants left the week before
Gen. Antoine Lahd, commander of the pro-Israeli South Lebanon Army
militia, ordered all gates closed.
        Lahd threatened all zone inhabitants who voted with permanent
banishment from the zone, strengthening the position of Christian
opposition groups who boycotted the elections on grounds that results
would be biased in favor of pro-Syrian candidates.
        The Christians, who are observing a three-day strike in protest of
the polls, wanted to postpone them until Syria withdraws its troops from
Beirut and relocates them in the Bekaa Valley.

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