Municipal election in the Lebanese capital Beirut was held on 8 May 2016. [1] Election was held for 24 seats in the municipal council of the city. [2]
Some 470,000 persons were eligible to vote in the election. [2] The population of Beirut is around four times larger than the electorate, as many Beirut residents remains in the electoral census of their ancestral home villages. [3]
The two main contending lists were 'Beirutis' list' and Beirut Madinati ('Beirut is my city'). [2] The Beirutis' List was supported by Saad Hariri, and included politicians from both the 14 March Alliance and the 8 March Alliance. [4] Amongst the parties supporting the list were the Future Movement, Amal Movement and the three main Christian parties. [5] Beirut Madinati was a platform that emerged from civic protests in the 2015 garbage crisis. [6] Film director Nadine Labaki was one of the 24 candidates of Beirut Madinati. [6] Another list in the fray was the secular 'Citizens in the state' list, led by former minister Charbel Nahhas. [4] [6] Notably Hezbollah did not endorse any municipal council candidates, [5] "preferring to concentrate on other municipalities south of the city." [7]
Just around 20% of the eligible voters cast their ballots. [4] Security was tight at polling stations, with armed forces deployed. [8]
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Voting to elect eleven members of the Lebanese parliament took place in the Beirut II district on 6 May 2018, part of the general election of that year. The constituency had 353,164, out of whom 143,829 voted. Residents elect 6 Sunnis, 2 Shias, 1 Druze, 1 Greek Orthodox and 1 Evangelical.
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