Parliamentary elections were held in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

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 The March 14 Alliance ( ar, تحالف 14 آذار, taḥāluf 14 adhār}), named after the date of the Cedar Revolution, is a coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon formed in 2005 that are united by their anti-Syrian stance ...

garnered 71 seats in the 128-member parliament, while the

March 8 Alliance The March 8 Alliance ( ar, تحالف 8 آذار, taḥāluf 8 adhār}) is a coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon formed in 2005 that are united by their pro-Syrian stance and their opposition to the March 14 Alliance. It ...

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 Change or Changing may refer to: Alteration * Impermanence, a difference in a state of affairs at different points in time * Menopause, also referred to as "the change", the permanent cessation of the menstrual period * Metamorphosis, or change, ...

, - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Free Patriotic Movement The Free Patriotic Movement ( ar, التيار الوطني الحر, ) is a Lebanese political party. Founded by Michel Aoun in 2005, the party is currently led by Aoun son-in-law Gebran Bassil since 2015. Ideology The 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 The Marada Movement ( ar, تيار المردة, translit=Tayyār Al-Marada) is a Lebanese political party and a former militia active during the Lebanese Civil War named after the legendary Marada (also called Mardaites) warriors of the early M ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 3 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...

(''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 ,

, - , 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 The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) or is a Syrian nationalist party operating in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. It advocates the establishment of a Greater Syrian nation state spanning the Fertile Crescent, including present- ...

(''al-Hizb al-Qawmi al-souri al ijtima'i'') , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party , 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 The Progressive Socialist Party ( ar, الحزب التقدمي الاشتراكي, translit=al-Hizb al-Taqadummi al-Ishtiraki) is a Lebanese political party. Its confessional base is in the Druze sect and its regional base is in Mount Lebanon ...

, 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 ,

, - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Future Movement The Future Movement ( ar, تيار المستقبل) is a Lebanese political party affiliated with the Sunni sect. The party was founded as a coalition in 1995 led by Rafic Hariri but was officially founded in 2007. The party is led by Saad Harir ...

(''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 The Kataeb Party ( ar, حزب الكتائب اللبنانية '), also known in English as the Phalanges, is a Christian political party in Lebanon. The party played a major role in the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990). In decline in the lat ...

(''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 The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP) ( hy, Սոցիալ Դեմոկրատ Հնչակյան Կուսակցություն; ՍԴՀԿ, translit=Sots’ial Demokrat Hnch’akyan Kusakts’ut’yun), is the oldest continuously-operating Armenian ...

(''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 The Armenian Democratic Liberal Party ( hy, Ռամկավար Ազատական Կուսակցութիւն), the Ramgavar Party, (known before 1921 as the Armenakan party) ( hy, Արմենական Կուսակցութիւն), also known by its Ar ...

(''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 Michel Suleiman ( ar, ميشال سليمان ; born 21 November 1948) is a Lebanese Maronite Christian politician who served as President of Lebanon from 2008 to 2014. Before becoming president, he served as commander of the Lebanese Armed Force ...

, 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 The March 8 Alliance ( ar, تحالف 8 آذار, taḥāluf 8 adhār}) is a coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon formed in 2005 that are united by their pro-Syrian stance and their opposition to the March 14 Alliance. It ...

'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 Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), also referred to as the Lebanon Tribunal or the Hariri Tribunal, is a tribunal of international character applying Lebanese criminal law to carry out the investigation and prosecution of those responsib ...

. 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 ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''
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 The European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) is a Paris-based agency of the European Union (EU) within the realm of Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The EUISS is an autonomous agency with full intellectual freedom and rese ...

{{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