1968 Lebanese general election in Koura District

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Voting to elect two members of the Lebanese parliament took place in the Koura District (a rural area in northern Lebanon) in 1968, part of the national general election of that year. [1] Both of the seats of the constituency were earmarked for the Greek Orthodox community (for more information about the Lebanese election system, see Elections in Lebanon). [1] [2] Koura District had 31,531 eligible voters, out of whom 13,753 voted. [3] Three tickets contested the election. [1] The election was marred by violent incidents and threats. [1]

Koura District District in North Governorate, Lebanon

Koura District is a district in the North Governorate, Lebanon.

General elections were held in Lebanon between 24 March and 7 April 1968. Independent candidates won the majority of seats, although many of them were considered to be members of various blocs. Voter turnout was 49.6%.

Elections in Lebanon are allotted to occur every four years. Every citizen is allowed to vote, but the positions are constitutionally allocated by religious affiliation. In 2014, the Parliament failed to elect a president and extended its own term.

Contents

Candidates

Filip Bulus and Fuad Ghusn, two incumbent parliamentarians and members of the Democratic Front, ran on a joint ticket. [1] [4] Bulus was a prominent politician and lawyer, first elected to parliament in 1951. He had been appointed as governor of Beirut Governorate in 1966, and served in different ministerial functions. Fuad Ghusn was also a lawyer by profession, educated in Paris. He had served in different ministerial cabinets. The Bulus-Ghusn ticket represented the local elites. [1]

Beirut Governorate Place in Lebanon

Beirut Governorate is a Lebanese governorate that consists of one district and one city, Beirut, which is also its capital, and the capital of Lebanon.

Paris Capital of France

Paris is the capital and most populous city of France, with an area of 105 square kilometres and an official estimated population of 2,140,526 residents as of 1 January 2019. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of Europe's major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, fashion, science, as well as the arts. The City of Paris is the centre and seat of government of the Île-de-France, or Paris Region, which has an estimated official 2019 population of 12,213,364, or about 18 percent of the population of France. The Paris Region had a GDP of €709 billion in 2017. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit Worldwide Cost of Living Survey in 2018, Paris was the second most expensive city in the world, after Singapore, and ahead of Zurich, Hong Kong, Oslo and Geneva. Another source ranked Paris as most expensive, on a par with Singapore and Hong Kong, in 2018. The city is a major railway, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports: Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the city's subway system, the Paris Métro, serves 5.23 million passengers daily, and is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro. Gare du Nord is the 24th busiest railway station in the world, but the first located outside Japan, with 262 million passengers in 2015.

Two physicians, Jamil al-Burji (seen as pro-Communist) and Bakhous Hakim (independent, but linked to the Syrian Social Nationalist Party), ran on a joint ticket. [1] [5] Faruq Talib was another candidate, running on his own. [1]

Syrian Social Nationalist Party political party

The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), is a nationalist political party operating in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Palestine. It advocates the establishment of a Syrian nation state spanning the Fertile Crescent, including present day Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Cyprus, Sinai, southeastern Turkey, based on geographical boundaries and the common history people within the boundaries share.

Results

Bakhous Hakim and Fuad Ghusn were elected. [4]

CandidateVotes
Bakhus Hakim6,615
Fuad Ghusn6,293
Filip Bulus5,829
Jamil al-Burji5,629
Faruq Talib532

[1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Zuwiyya, Jalal. The Parliamentary Election of Lebanon 1968 . Leiden: Brill, 1972. pp. 29-30
  2. Ḥevrah ha-Mizraḥit ha-Yiśreʼelit, Merkaz le-meḥḳar ʻal shem Reʼuven Shiloaḥ, and Mekhon Shiloaḥ le-ḥeḳer ha-Mizraḥ ha-tikhon ṿe-Afriḳah. Middle East Record . Tel Aviv: Israel Oriental Society, Reuven Shiloah Research Center, 1960. pp. 350-351
  3. Ḥevrah ha-Mizraḥit ha-Yiśreʼelit, Merkaz le-meḥḳar ʻal shem Reʼuven Shiloaḥ, and Mekhon Shiloaḥ le-ḥeḳer ha-Mizraḥ ha-tikhon ṿe-Afriḳah. Middle East Record . Tel Aviv: Israel Oriental Society, Reuven Shiloah Research Center, 1968. pp. 637
  4. 1 2 Ḥevrah ha-Mizraḥit ha-Yiśreʼelit, Merkaz le-meḥḳar ʻal shem Reʼuven Shiloaḥ, and Mekhon Shiloaḥ le-ḥeḳer ha-Mizraḥ ha-tikhon ṿe-Afriḳah. Middle East Record . Tel Aviv: Israel Oriental Society, Reuven Shiloah Research Center, 1968. pp. 641
  5. Indiana Social Studies Quarterly, Vol. 35–37 . Indiana Social Studies Quarterly, 1982. p. 45