BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon cleared its first democratic hurdle in the post-Syrian era with the weekend's polls in Beirut but the one-sidedness of the contest and unpopular election rules mean the voting system still needs work.

The elections in the capital, the first of a four-round process, saw a crushing victory for supporters of Saad Hariri, which was however marred by a low turnout of fewer than one-in-three voters.

Political analyst Ghassan Ezzeh said: "I do not think we can speak about free and democratic elections because there was no real electoral battle."

But he said that "even if the new parliament will not have real popular representation, world powers (the United States and France) have already given it legitimacy, and this is enough."

Hariri's success is widely seen as a vote for his father whose February 14 assassination in a Beirut bomb blast triggered a major political upheaval in Lebanon that led Damascus to end its 29-year military presence.

As soon as Saad claimed victory late Sunday, he called for national reconciliation in a country still bearing the scars of the 15-year civil war and extended an open hand to all factions who helped the campaign that led to the Syrian pullout.

Independent observers and Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa attributed the low Beirut turnout to the fact that Hariri's candidates were assured of victory and because some Christian groups had called for a boycott due to electoral rows.

Even European Union observers hailed on Monday the "open and transparent" conduct of the first round of elections and said there was "no big difference" in the turnout from the last legislative polls in 2000 that stood at 33.8 percent.

Leading figures in the anti-Syrian opposition, which is expected to take the lion's share of seats in the 128-member parliament, had called for a high turnout to give the new government the maximum of legitimacy.

Turnout had been expected to be low because of the virtually guaranteed success of Hariri's son Saad in the 19 seats up for grabs in Beirut. His ticket had already won nine of the seats as its candidates stood unopposed.

Turnout was particularly low in Christian districts of the capital.

Former exiled Christian General Michel Aoun -- who recently fell out with Hariri and his Muslim allies in the opposition -- and the powerful Armenian party Tashnag had called for the boycott.

A senior Aoun aide, Alain Aoun, told AFP that "Beirut voters have expressed their rejection of the electoral law which was drafted in the era of the Syrian occupation."

Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, which has however sponsored candidates in other districts, considered that the electoral law prevented minorities from gaining true representation.

Hani Hammud, editor-in-chief of the Hariri-owned al-Mustaqbal daily, said "working toward national unity after the elections would be achieved with the drafting of a new electoral law to replace the current one which was drafted by the (Lebanese) authorities and the services, under Syria's tutelage."

"The electoral law has rightfully frustrated many Lebanese, mainly the Christians," he acknowledged.
"The first mission of Saad Hariri and his allies (in the opposition) will be to start dialogue for a new electoral law, following a compromise with all parties," Hammud said.

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