|
||
 |
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
| Jounieh elections tension-charged Jounieh witnessed a higher wave of tension in its municipal battle than Jbeil. This was mostly due to the power of the "Jounieh's Future" list backed by Kesrouan MPs Mansour Bone and George Frem and next to it, the "All for Jounieh" list backed by Kesrouan MPs Farid Khazen and Fares Boueiz. In
Kesrouan, five municipalities out of 48 won uncontested. Bone, who voted in Ghadir, denied resort to bribery. "We called people to vote yesterday. We expect to win," he said. "We are not afraid of any breach." But Frem, who voted in Haret Sakhr, said Lebanese had the opportunity to work according to their conscience in order to choose the best. As for MP Farid Khazen, he called the Interior Ministry to have firm control to ensure an honest municipal election. Meanwhile, Free Patriotic Movement coordinator Roukoz Mehanna said the FPM hoped to break into the list. "If we do, we would have made a great achievement," Mehanna said. He also said many families gave in to bribery which had reached Sarba. Jbeil's municipal battle was confined to the authority-backed lists and the opposition. The Jbeil elections are also known as the "three Generals" battle, (Generals Emile Lahoud, Michel Suleiman and Michel Aoun). Telecommunictions Minister Jean-Louis Qordahi said around 4,500 voters out of 7,879 were to cast their votes, with about 2,100 having voted before noon. "We should work for Jbeil development without using it for our own interests," said Qordahi. "Parties from outside Jbeil are exerting pressure on Jbeil. We are concerned with the upcoming years rather than the direct results of the current battle." |
