Interior Minister Bassam al-Mawlawi on Monday announced the officials results of parliamentary elections in seven electoral districts, as the counting of votes continued in the remaining districts.

“We have managed to organize the elections in a very good way despite the difficulties,” Mawlawi said at a press conference.

The Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections, LADE, which was monitoring the parliamentary elections, said Monday it has registered many irregularities and violations during the polls.

LADE said its members were threatened and attacked by several groups, mostly in areas controlled by Hizbullah and Amal.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati urged Monday groups and independents who will be represented in the new parliament to move quickly “because what we are passing through cannot withstand (political) bickering at the expense of priorities.”

Miqati was apparently referring to consultations that are expected to begin soon to name a new prime minister whose government’s main mission will be to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund to work on getting Lebanon out of its paralyzing economic crisis. The legislature will have to draft new laws related to the economic crisis, such as a capital control law.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri announced Monday after Lebanon’s parliamentary elections that the country is before “a new crossroads.”

“The elections ended and the country is before a new crossroads. Real victory is the introduction of new blood into political life,” Hariri said in a tweet.

An election in crisis-hit Lebanon appears to have dealt a setback to the biggest bloc, led by Hizbullah, and boosted reformists, provisional results showed Monday.

Turnout was low in the general election Sunday, the first since the Mediterranean country was plunged into a deep economic crisis that has stoked popular fury with the hereditary and graft-tainted ruling class.

Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan, Arab Tawhid Party leader Wiam Wahhab, and Assaad Hardan of the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party have lost in Sunday's parliamentary vote, according to early results.

Meanwhile, the LF said it won at least 20 seats, adding five members from the 2018 vote. This would make it the largest Christian bloc in parliament, replacing the Free Patriotic Movement.

Hizbullah and its allies appear to have suffered some losses in this weekend's parliamentary elections, with their opponents gaining more seats and some of their traditional partners not making it into the legislature, early results showed Monday.

Despite the apparent setback, Hizbullah and its main Shiite ally, the Amal group of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, are likely to retain the 27 seats allocated to the sect. It was not clear, however, whether the Iran-backed group and its allies would hang on to the majority they have held since 2018, when they had 71 of the 128 seats in parliament.

The results of Lebanon's first elections since multiple crises ravaged the country were expected Monday, with opposition groups hoping for modest but unprecedented gains.

According to provisional turnout figures, 41 percent of Lebanon's 3.9 million registered voters cast a ballot Sunday in 12 hours of polling that saw several irregularities and minor incidents.

The Lebanese Forces slammed Sunday a statement by Hizbullah in which it distanced itself from several elections-related clashes in the Bekaa region.

"Their statement is denying proven facts that were captured on TVs and that people witnessed," the LF statement said.

Voter turnout in Lebanon’s parliamentary elections stood at 41.04% across the country with the closure of polls at 7:00 pm, the Interior Ministry said, with Interior Minister Bassam al-Mawlawi describing it as a low turnout.

Polls officially closed at 7:00 pm but voters present inside the premises of some polling centers were allowed to vote beyond that hour.