Hezbollah won a majority of seats in Lebanese parliamentary elections, which are still waiting to be confirmed by an official vote count, ousting the current prime minister Saad Hariri’s Future Movement of a third of its seats Sunday.
Hezbollah and its political affiliates secured 67 seats in the Lebanese parliament, bringing them to a simple majority, according to unofficial results from both politicians like Hariri and Lebanese news outlets. Hariri’s Future Movement picked up only 21 seats this election, whereas in the last round of parliamentary elections the bloc picked up 33 seats and held a previous anti-Hezbollah coalition known as the “March 14 Alliance,” supported by Saudi Arabia.
Five hundred thirty eight candidates ran for a seat in the Lebanese parliament, which has only 128 seats. Lebanon’s last parliamentary elections took place in 2009, and new elections were set for 2013, but MP’s postponed their elections due to their inability to come to terms over new election rules.
Hezbollah’s simple majority bloc will allow them to veto any laws they oppose, but it would take a two-thirds majority to pass big legislation, such as amending the constitution.
In Lebanon, the prime minister must be Sunni due to the sectarian division of its government. Hariri looks to be the next prime minister, but cabinet choices are not yet determined due to the Shi’ite Hezbollah bloc majority.
The Christian and heavily anti-Hezbollah party Lebanese Forces seemed to have doubled their numbers, growing from 8 to 15 seats this election.
Hezbollah’s seat gain may complicate relations with Western countries. The United States designates Hezbollah as a terrorist group and also arms and trains the Lebanese army. Hariri is also a Western-backed candidate.
The highly-armed, Iranian-backed group Hezbollah has gained influence from its involvement in Syria since 2012. Saudi Arabia strongly influenced the Future Movement bloc in 2009, but has recently switched focus to other regional issues like those in Yemen, where yet another Iranian proxy conflict is taking place with the Iranian-backed Houthis.
An official vote count is soon to come, although prime minister Hariri has acknowledged a significant loss in seats.
Voter turnout in this year’s election was at 49.2 percent, down from 54 percent in 2009.
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