Parliamentary elections were held in Lebanon on 7 June 2009 to elect all 128 members of the

Parliament of Lebanon The Lebanese Parliament ( ar, مجلس النواب, translit=Majlis an-Nuwwab; french: Chambre des députés) is the national parliament of the Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in multi-member constit ...

Background

Before the election, the voting age was to be lowered from 21 to 18 years, but as this requires a constitutional amendment, it did not happen before the election.

Allocation of seats

Following a compromise reached in the

Doha Agreement Doha Agreement may refer to: *Doha Agreement (2008), agreement between rival Lebanese factions *Fatah–Hamas Doha Agreement, 2012 *Doha Agreement (2020) Doha Agreement may refer to: *Doha Agreement (2008), agreement between rival Lebanese faction ...

in May 2008 between the government and opposition, a new electoral law was put in place, as shown in the table below. It was passed on 29 September 2008.

Results

Preliminary results indicated that the turnout had been as high as 55%. The March 14 Alliance garnered 71 seats in the 128-member parliament, while the March 8 Alliance won 57 seats. This result is virtually the same as the result from the election in 2005. However, the March 14 alliance saw this as a moral victory over

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

, who led the March 8 Alliance, and the balance of power was expected to shift in its favor. Many observers expect to see the emergence of a National Unity Government similar to that created following the

in 2008.

By party after the designation of Najib Mikati in January 2011

, - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;" , Alliances ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Seats ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;" , Parties ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Seats , - , style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" rowspan=15 , Government
68 , style="background-color:orange;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;" rowspan=6 , 27 , style="background-color:orange;text-align:left;" colspan=2 , Change and Reform bloc , - , style="text-align:left;" , Free Patriotic Movement (''Tayyar Al-Watani Al-Horr'') , style="text-align:right;" , 19 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Lebanese Democratic Party The Lebanese Democratic Party ( ar, الحزب الديمقراطي اللبناني, al-ḥizb ad-dīmuqrāṭī al-Lubnānī'') is a political party in Lebanon established by Prince Talal Arslan and Marwan Abou Fadel in 2001. Prince Talal i ...

(''Hizb al-democraty al-lubnany'') , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Marada Movement , style="text-align:right;" , 3 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Armenian Revolutionary Federation (''Tashnag'') , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Solidarity Party (''Hizb Al-Tadamon Al-Lubnany'') , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , - , style="background-color:yellow;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;" rowspan=5 , 30 , style="background-color:yellow;text-align:left;" colspan=2 , March 8 Alliance , - , style="text-align:left;" , Amal Movement (''Harakat Amal'') , style="text-align:right;" , 13 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Loyalty to the Resistance (''Hezbollah'') , style="text-align:right;" , 13 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Syrian Social Nationalist Party (''al-Hizb al-Qawmi al-souri al ijtima'i'') , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Baʿath Party ( ar, حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي ' ) was a political party founded in Syria by Mishel ʿAflaq, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Bītār, and associates of Zaki al-ʾArsūzī. The party espoused B ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 2 , - , style="background-color:lightgrey;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;" rowspan=4 , 11 , style="background-color:lightgrey;text-align:left;" colspan=2 , Pro-Government Independents , - , style="text-align:left;" , Progressive Socialist Party , style="text-align:right;" , 7 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Glory Movement The Glory Movement ( ar, حركة مجد, Ḥarakat Majd) is a Lebanese political party. Najib Mikati has been the party leader since 2004. Mikati was a former Lebanese Prime Minister for the period of April to July 2005. Mikati was the incumbent ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 2 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Safadi Bloc , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , - , style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" rowspan=11 , Opposition
60 , style="background-color:#5bb9ee;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;" rowspan=11 , 60 , style="background-color:#5bb9ee;text-align:left;" colspan=2 , March 14 Alliance , - , style="text-align:left;" , Future Movement (''Tayyar Al Mustaqbal'') , style="text-align:right;" , 29 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Lebanese Forces The Lebanese Forces ( ar, القوات اللبنانية '')'' is a Lebanese Christian-based political party and former militia during the Lebanese Civil War. It currently holds 19 of the 128 seats in Lebanon's parliament and is therefore th ...

(''al-Quwāt al-Lubnāniyya'') , style="text-align:right;" , 8 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Kataeb Party (''Hizb al-Kataeb'') , style="text-align:right;" , 5 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Murr Bloc , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (''Social Democrat Hunchakian Party'') , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Islamic Group (''Jamaa al-Islamiya'') , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (''Ramgavar Party'') , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Democratic Left Movement (''ĥarakatu-l-yasāri-d-dimuqrātī'') , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , - , style="text-align:left;" , National Liberal Party (''Hizbu-l-waTaniyyīni-l-aHrār'') , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Independents (including ''ex-PSP'') , style="text-align:right;" , 10 , - , – , – ! style="text-align:left;" rowspan="6", Total ! style="text-align:right;" , 128 , -
Source

Formation of government

As is typical of Lebanese politics political wrangling after the elections took 5 months. Only in November was the composition of the new cabinet agreed upon: 15 seats for the March 14 Alliance, 10 for the March 8 Alliance, and 5 nominated by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, who has cast himself as a neutral party between the two main political blocks.

Aftermath

The government fell in January 2011 after the March 8 alliance's 11 ministers withdrew from the government over PM Hariri's refusal to convene a cabinet meeting to discuss possible indictments to be issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The March 8 alliance formed a new government in the ensuing six months.

References

External links

Official Site

Robert Worth, April 22, 2009, '' The New York Times''
Lebanese Elections 2009 BLOG

Interactive Result Map

Obama's Path Passes Through Lebanon
by Pol Marillas, Opinion, June 2009; European Union Institute for Security Studies {{DEFAULTSORT:Lebanese General Election, 2009 2009 elections in Asia

General election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

2009 general Michel Aoun