27 May 2010

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s northern governorate will witness a fierce electoral battle on two fronts in the last round of municipal polls on Sunday as the cities of Batroun and Zghorta head toward a hot competition while Tripoli’s major political players reached consensus.

The elections in the coastal city of Batroun will feature the March 14 coalition-backed electoral list pitted against the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM)-Marada alliance.

Similarly in the mountainous city of Zghorta, list backed by Marada Movement leader Sleiman Franjieh will compete with former Lebanese-Forces supported MP Michel Mouawad.

The role of long-time political families in Batroun has become a topic of heated debate during the campaign.

“There are some who want to abolish [the role] of historic political families in Batroun but we do not want to make out of this occasion an opportunity for political squabbling … the outcome of the elections will be a strict response to whoever dared to say he will eliminate the Batroun leaderships,” Sayed Akl, head of the March 14-backed “Batroun List” said.

For his part, incumbent Mayor and head of the competing list Marcelino al-Hark said the competition should be based on the achievements of the current municipal council in Batroun.

FPM leader MP Michel Aoun said “Batroun polls will be the mother of all battles.”

In the 2004 municipal elections, Hark’s electoral list swept all 21 seats against a list backed by FPM official and Energy Minister Gebran Bassil.

Bassil lost the 2009 parliamentary elections in the Batroun district against March 14-backed candidates, Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra and Labor Minister and MP Butros Harb.

The FPM accused Harb on Tuesday of political deceit in his hometown Tannourine, a village of Batroun, after he withdrew his support for Suhail Mattar as a consensus candidate.

“The FPM announced since the beginning its support for consensus among families in Tannourine represented by candidate Suhail Mattar who is free of political affiliations,” an FPM statement said.

“But Harb as usual ran a political scam deceiving everyone into believing in consensus which convinced his rivals to refrain from submitting their candidacies … only to later announce an electoral battle,” the statement added.

Harb announced Tuesday that he would back an electoral list headed by Mounir Tarabieh which is expected to win uncontested after all candidates except Mattar withdrew.

On the Zghorta front, head of the “Zghorta list” Toufic Mouawad announced Wednesday his electoral platform as well as the members of his ticket, which is backed by Franjieh. 

“Today, we witness political competition with regard to the upcoming polls but following the elections, we will leave politics to politicians and work on developmental projects in the interest of everyone,” Mouawad said.

In 2009, the Marada Movement swept all three parliamentary seats in the elections in Zghorta district against a coalition of the March 14 Forces.

According to several sources, voters are expected to swing in the Marada Movement’s favor in Zghorta while the March 14 coalition appears set to clinch several municipalities in surrounding towns.

In Tripoli, the Future Movement, MP Najib Mikati, former MP Omar Karami and Economy and Trade Minister Mohammad Safadi reached an agreement on a consensus list after long rounds of discussions.

The deal granted opposition forces headed by Karami seven seats in the municipal council.

However, the agreement did not go through without complications that were reflected by the withdrawal of Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya candidate Hiba Mrad and a dispute over the Alawite community’s share in council.

Well-informed sources told The Daily star that the Alawite Arab Democratic Party official Refaat Eid demanded that his party be granted three seats rather than two along with the post of deputy mayor.

The sources added that negotiations were ongoing with Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya.

Copyright The Daily Star 2010.