Beirut III constituency boundary, covering 6 neighbourhoods in western Beirut

Beirut III (Arabic: دائرة بيروت الثالثة) was an electoral district in Lebanon. It covered six neighbourhoods (quartiers) in the western parts of the capital; Dar El Mreisse, Mazraa, Minet El Hosn, Moussaitbeh, Ras Beirut and Zuqaq al-Blat.[1] The constituency elected ten members of the Parliament of Lebanon; five Sunni Muslim, one Shia Muslim, one Druze, one Protestant, one Greek Orthodox and one Minorities (for more information on the Lebanese electoral system, see Elections in Lebanon).[1] The constituency was created with the 2008 Doha Agreement, ahead of the 2009 parliamentary election.[2]

Creation

The boundaries and the sectarian seat allocation of the electoral district were defined by the 2008 Doha Agreement, which instituted election districts similar to those of the 1960 Election Law.[3]

Demographics

The Ministry of Interior and Municipalities reported in 2011 that the constituency had 256,933 registered voters and the following religious composition: 65.25% Sunni Muslims, 14.21% Shia Muslims, 6.27% Greek Orthodox and 3.18% Minorities.[1] According to an article in Nahar newspaper published in May 2008, Beirut III had 172,756 Sunni voters, 38,052 Shias, 17,993 Greek Orthodox, 8,882 Minorities, 5,786 Maronites, 5,425 Armenian Orthodox, 4,735 Druze, 3,054 Protestants and 1,153 Armenian Catholics.[4] It had the second-largest number of registered voters of all electoral districts in the country (after Baalbek-Hermel) and the largest number of Sunni Muslim voters.[1]

2009 election

During the 2009 election there were 252,301 registered voters in Beirut III.[1]

March 8 list

The opposition 'National Decision of Beirut' list was announced on May 17, 2009 at a press conference at the Safir Helipolitan Hotel in Raouche. The list consisted of Ibrahim al-Halabi, Bahaaeddine Itani, Khaled al-Daouk, Omar Ghandour and Sheikh Abdel-Nasser al-Jabri for the Sunni seats, Rafiq Nasrallah (Shia), Ghazi al-Mounzer (Druze), Najah Wakim (Greek Orthodox), George Ishkhanian (Protestant) and Raymond Asmar (Minorities).[5][6][7]

The People's Movement had declared Wakim and Al-Halabi as its candidates at a press conference on April 2, 2009.[8] Separately, Itani had declared his candidature on the same day.[9] The Armenian Revolutionary Federation declared George Ishkhanian as its candidate for the Protestant seat on April 10, 2009. Ishkhanian was a businessman, board member of the First Armenian Evangelical Church and chairman of the Armenian Evangelical Youth Union.[10]

March 14 list

Saad Hariri
Tamam Salam
Ghazi Aridi

The March 14 Alliance list was announced by Saad Hariri at the Al Manara Stadium on May 8, 2009. The candidates of the list were: Hariri, Tamam Salam, Mohammad Qabbani, Ammar Houri and Imad Houth for the Sunni seats, Ghazi Aridi for the Druze seat, Ghazi Yusuf for the Shia seat, Bassem Chab for the Protestant seat, Atef Majdalani for the Greek Orthodox seat and Nabil de Freije for the Minorities seat.[11]

Voting

103,243 voters cast their votes in Beirut III (40.92%).[1][12] All ten candidates of the March 14 list were elected with wide margins.[1][12] The March 14 list got the overwhelming support from the Sunni and Druze communities, as well as most of the Christian vote. The March 8 list won the overwhelming support from the Shia voters.[13]

Out of 4,900 Jewish registered voters, only five voted. All of them voted for the March 14 list.[13]

Seat March 14 candidates March 8 candidates
Druze Ghazi Aridi
(Progressive Socialist)		 76,792 74.38% Ghazi Mundhar 20,680 20.20%
Evangelical Bassem Chab
(Future Movement)		 76,133 74.11% George Ishkhanian
(Tashnaq)		 21,041 20.38%
Greek Orthodox Atef Majdalani
(Future Movement)		 77,6510 74.74% Najah Wakim
(People's Movement)		 21,921 21.23%
Minorities Nabil de Freije
(Future Movement)		 76431 74.03% Raymond Asmar 21,362 20.69%
Shia Ghazi Yusuf 72,410 70.14% Rafiq Nasrallah 22,177 21.48%
Sunni Saad Hariri
(Future Movement)		 78382 75.92% Omar Ghandour 21,703 21.02
Tamam Salam 76,925 74.51% Bahaaeddine Itani 21,507 20.83%
Mohammad Qabbani
(Future Movement)		 76,448 74.05% Abdel-Nasser al-Jabri 21,103 20.44%
Ammar Houri
(Future Movement)		 76,201 73.81% Khaled al-Daouk 21,100 20.44%
Imad Hout
(Jama'a)		 75,954 73.59% Ibrahim al-Halabi
(People's Movement)		 21,050 20.38%

Apart from the March 8 and March 14 candidates, the most voted candidate was Greek Orthodox Bechara Merhej who got 1,517 (1.49%). Other candidates were Ghazi Khamis (Sunni, 472 votes), Zuheir Khatib (Shia, 314 votes), Salah Araqji (Sunni, 236 votes), Edmond Pauls Boutrous (Minorities, 210 votes), Fadi Romi (Greek Orthodox, 195 votes) and a number of candidates who got less than a 100 votes each.[12] There were 991 blank votes and 705 invalid ballots.[12]

2017 Vote Law

As per the new Vote Law adopted by parliament on June 16, 2017, the electoral districts of Beirut were reorganized. The erstwhile Beirut III district merged with the Port and Bachoura quarters (previously in Beirut II), and formed a district henceforth known as 'Beirut II'.[14][15] Whilst one Sunni and one Shia seats was added from the old Beirut II district, the Minorities seat shifted to the Christian-dominated Beirut I district.[14][15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 IFES. Electoral Districts in Lebanon Archived 2015-04-07 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Imad Salamey (15 October 2013). The Government and Politics of Lebanon. Routledge. pp. 74–75, 112–113. ISBN 978-1-135-01133-8.
  3. ↑ Messerlian, Zaven. Armenian Participation in the Lebanese Legislative Elections 1934–2009. Beirut: Haigazian University Press, 2014. p. 445
  4. ↑ Messerlian, Zaven. Armenian Participation in the Lebanese Legislative Elections 1934–2009. Beirut: Haigazian University Press, 2014. pp. 446-447
  5. ↑ Daily Star. Rival coalitions unveil tickets for Zahle, Beirut III districts
  6. ↑ Saida Online. Opposition announces electoral list in Beirut III
  7. ↑ NOW. Opposition list in Beirut III district to be announced Sunday May 17
  8. ↑ NOW. People’s Movement announces candidacy of Wakim and Halabi in Beirut
  9. ↑ NOW. Itani officially announces his candidacy in Beirut III
  10. ↑ Messerlian, Zaven. Armenian Participation in the Lebanese Legislative Elections 1934–2009. Beirut: Haigazian University Press, 2014. p. 471
  11. ↑ Messerlian, Zaven. Armenian Participation in the Lebanese Legislative Elections 1934–2009. Beirut: Haigazian University Press, 2014. p. 479
  12. 1 2 3 4 Ministry of Interior and Municipalities. Elections Result – Beirut III Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine
  13. 1 2 Messerlian, Zaven. Armenian Participation in the Lebanese Legislative Elections 1934–2009. Beirut: Haigazian University Press, 2014. p. 487
  14. 1 2 GulfNews. Lebanon to hold parliamentary elections in May 2018
  15. 1 2 Daily Star. Analysts skeptical new vote law will lead to change Archived 2018-08-24 at the Wayback Machine

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