Timour Azhari, Laila Basam and Timour Azhari

(Reuters). -The Iran-backed Hezbollah along with its allies lost the majority of Lebanon’s parliament during a general election. A Reuters tally on final results revealed Tuesday that this was a huge blow to Hezbollah, which is heavily armed and reflects anger at Lebanon’s ruling elite.

In Sunday’s election the Shi’ite Muslims movement and its supporters won around 62 out of 128 parliament seats. This is a reverse of 2018’s result where they had a majority at 71.

Reform-minded newcomers to politics won around a dozen seats in the first elections since the economic collapse of Lebanon and the Beirut port blast of 2020. This was an unanticipated breakthrough into a system that has been dominated for decades by the same group.

Hezbollah’s opponents, including the Saudi-aligned Lebanese Forces (a Christian faction), gained ground. It claimed that it has overtaken FPM (Hezbollah-allied Free Patriotic Movement) in Lebanon as largest Christian party.

This results leaves parliament in a split, with no majority. It raises concerns about political paralysis, tensions, and delays reforms necessary to rescue the country from its severe economic crisis.

The 2018 elections brought Lebanon closer to Shi’ite Muslim Iran-led Iran. However, the results may allow Saudi Arabia to assert its influence in a country which has been a longstanding arena for regional rivalry against Tehran.

On Tuesday, eight female lawmakers were elected – almost half of which are newcomers.

The unexpected upsets include the removal of two Hezbollah allies, Talal Arslan (heir to one Lebanon’s oldest Druze political family dynasties) and Elie Ferzli as deputy speaker of parliament.

Faisal Karami is a Sunni Muslim politician who was also scion from another Lebanese political family.

“CRACK IN TO THE WALL”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called in a statement late on Monday for the swift formation of an inclusive government to stabilize the economy.

Sami Atallah (director of The Policy Initiative), a Beirut-based thinktank, stated that this was highly unlikely.

According to him, “polarized parliament” groups would clash when it came time for electing the speaker of the parliamentary assembly.

Hezbollah was able to retain control of 27 Shiite-allocated seats while the Amal Movement, an ally of it, lost two seats in South Lebanon.

Atallah suggested that they could be forced to take a tough stance by Atallah: “They don’t wish to have a crack on the wall.”

According to social media footage, overnight large numbers of Hezbollah flag-wielding people gathered in Beirut and chanted in support. The videos were not verified independently by Reuters.

A witness to Reuters said that a huge cardboard fist, which was originally erected during three-years of protests against ruling institutions, had fallen to pieces and been burned by morning.

In 2019, the protests were directed at an inefficient and corrupt political class. The country has been in an economic crisis since then that has been described by the World Bank as the worst since the Industrial Revolution.

Local currency lost over 90 percent, reaching 30,000 Pounds per US Dollar on Tuesday. This is roughly 10% of Sunday’s loss.

However, the central bank of Lebanon said Tuesday that it will continue to permit commercial banks to buy dollars at its Sayrafa rate rate “without amending,” which has stabilized the currency rate ever since January.

Nearly three quarters of the population in Lebanon has fallen below the poverty line due to the economic downturn. This could lead to increased vote buying, as election observers warned.

On Tuesday, the European Union Election Observation Mission stated in a preliminary statement that polling had been “overshadowed” by widespread corruption, vote-buying, and clientelism.