March 8 Seeks Winning 'One-Third' of Parliament Seats
The March 8 alliance camp has a specific goal to reach in the country's looming parliamentary elections which is embodied in winning one-third of the parliament's seats, al-Akhbar daily reported Thursday.
March 8 sources told the daily that the alliance's “second goal is to win one-third (43 seats out of 128) of the parliament seats, while the first end they seek is to win 27 Shiite seats out of 27.”
The source added the Shiite allies, Hizbullah and AMAL Movement, “strive for that.”
Al-Akhbar said the mission “seems easy to accomplish” in the Shiite-majority districts of Zahrani-Tyre, Nabatieh- Bent Jbeil- Marjeyoun-Hasbaya. It would be enough to only record-raise the level of voting to ensure that no competitor list has enough electoral votes to represent one deputy, according to the daily.
In the districts of Baabda, Beirut, the Western Bekaa, Zahle and Jbeil, Shiite seats are guaranteed for both, it added.
The expected battle will take place in the districts of northern Bekaa where parliamentary seats are divided as follows: 10 seats: 6 Shiite, 2 Sunni, 1 Catholic and 1 Maronite; with more than 310,000 voters including 225,000 Shiites, 44,000 Sunnis and 42,000 Christians).
Hizbullah and AMAL want to do everything in their power to ensure that they win all the Shiite seats in the first place, while seeking to secure as many other seats as possible, pro-March 8 newspaper al-Akhbar reported.
Reports said on Wednesday that March 8 forces have decided to form a unified electoral alliance to confront the lists of al-Mustaqbal Movement and the Lebanese Forces in the elections.
They said the March 8 lists will seek local alliances with the Free Patriotic Movement where there is a mutual interest for both parties. They will however confront the lists of Mustaqbal and the LF.
Source: Naharnet
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