BEIRUT: The second round of Lebanon’s municipal elections kicked off on Sunday in Beirut and the Bekaa region, respectively dominated by Prime Minister Saad Hariri and the Shia party Hezbollah.
Polling among the 3.33 million electorate began on May 2 in the Mount Lebanon area overlooking the capital, and is scheduled for every Sunday of this month, except May 16.
In Beirut, which is dominated by Hariri’s coalition, nearly 450,000 voters are eligible to choose their own councils and mukhtars, or mayors.
No real contest is expected in the northern Bekaa region, a bastion of Hezbollah, except for certain localities where family and local ties take precedence over political affiliations among the 550,000 electorate.
In Bekaa, 49 of 155 town councils were previously elected to office based on family and clan affiliations.
Thousands of security and military personnel have been deployed to ensure the safety of the polls, in which a simple majority is needed for victory. Tanks were deployed in several points around the capital.
The last local elections were in 2004.
A political lull reigns in Lebanon since the formation in November last year of a national unity government, which includes two Hezbollah ministers.
