Hariri's son wins in Beirut polls
Saad Hariri, the son of the dead former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, swept parliamentary elections in the capital Beirut, official results announced showed today.
The election is the first in the country to be held largely free of Syrian domination.
Riding a sympathy vote, candidates led by Hariri won all 19 seats in the Beirut polls in an election largely seen as a tribute to the leader whose February assassination triggered international anger and street protests that ultimately drove the Syrian army out of Lebanon.
Interior Minister Hassan Sabei, announcing the official results at a news conference, said all contested 10 seats were won by Hariri and allies. The remaining nine seats already had been won by candidates on Hariri’s ticket before the election because there were no challengers.
Hariri was the biggest vote-getter, collecting 39,499 votes – five times more than the distant loser in one constituency.
