Nayla Assaf
Daily Star staff

In an atmosphere reminiscent of the 2000 US presidential elections, the country appeared to plunge into utter stupefaction from Sunday night until daybreak on Monday, with both parties claiming victory in the Metn by-elections.
At around 9pm, and amid cheers and fireworks, Murr Television announced the victory of Gabriel Murr by some 1,600 votes, prompting a World Cup-final-like reaction from the thousands of people gathered at the station in Naccashe.
“What happened today is proof that neither force nor domination can keep people from performing their patriotic duties,” Murr told the cheering crowd of at least 5,000 people.
The statement was made as supporters of the Lebanese Forces, the Free Patriotic Movement, the National Liberal Party, the Communist Party and the Phalange Party cheered in celebratory chants: “freedom, sovereignty, independence.”
Also in Naccashe, LF student coordinator Salman Samaha said: “Nothing is 100 percent guaranteed yet, but the results show that despite all the obstacles placed in front of us we were able to win.”
In all the hoopla, one man on stage suffered a heart attack, while friends battled their way through the crowd to get him away from the crowd.
Minutes later, however, the situation appeared starkly different as former Interior Minister Michel Murr made an announcement from his Amarat Shalhoub office, broadcast on Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International, that his daughter Myrna had prevailed by about 400 votes, creating unprecedented confusion amid both the ranks of the opposition and Myrna Murr supporters.
Demonstrators remained in front of the Serail in Jdeideh until about 5am as the Higher Vote Tabulation Committee deliberated overnight with Gabriel Murr, Metn MPs Nassib Lahoud and Pierre Gemayel attending on one side, and Interior Minister Elias Murr, Sports and Youth Minister Sebouh Hovnanian and Metn MP Emile Lahoud Jr. on the other.
Meanwhile, at MTV, most supporters were still cheering for what appeared to be a political victory, that of the unification of the opposition ranks.
Jbeil MP Fares Soueid dubbed the election “a national referendum” which has reflected the will of all Lebanese, “Muslims and Christians alike.”
He said that the dispute over the results was expected, reiterating calls by Pierre Gemayel that the whole Cabinet resign.
“The prime minister (Rafik Hariri) had pledged that during his mandate freedoms will not be violated ­ and we saw what happened on Aug. 7 ,” Soueid said in reference to a crackdown on anti-Syrian activists.  Hariri “pledged to build a nation of law and order ­ and we just saw what is happening today.
“If the prime minister is unable to contain a minister who is a member of his Cabinet then let him resign,” he added in an apparent reference to Interior Minister Elias Murr, who said before the elections that the use of polling booths was optional, sparking an opposition outcry.
Soueid, however, reiterated what many opposition leaders were saying, which is that regardless of the results, the struggle will remain within the rules of democracy.
“I do not know how things will unfold but we are not a revolutionary movement … We are not above the law, nor do we pose a threat to national security,” he said. “But no matter what, we will not leave out any democratic method.”
Nonetheless, security measures were tight overnight, as security barricades formed quickly around MTV, near the Jdeideh Serail and around the Interior Ministry, obstructing traffic in Hamra, Sannayeh, and Verdun.

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