From the Liveblog of
Monday, May 7, 2018
Pro-Hezbollah bloc set to be Lebanon’s largest
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleThe head of Lebanese President Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement says it has won at least 29 seats in parliamentary elections, making it the largest bloc in the assembly.
Gibran Bassil, who serves as foreign minister and heads Aoun’s party, tells reporters that their bloc could end up having 30 seats. He said it would maintain its “strategic alliance” with the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group.
The Free Patriotic Movement was the second-largest in the outgoing parliament after Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s bloc, which had 32 seats but appears to have lost a third of them in Sunday’s elections.
Hariri is likely to remain in his post, but Hezbollah and its allies appear to have gained enough seats in the 128-member legislature to veto legislation.
— AP
The Times of Israel Community.