BEIRUT, Lebanon - When Lebanon's new parliament convenes next week, nearly half the faces will be new, but the line-up will still reflect a long-standing tradition of deputies gaining seats thanks to family connections.

The four-stage election that ended Sunday created the first parliament since the 1975-1990 civil war that is not controlled by pro-Syrian factions and followed hot on the heels of Syria's military withdrawal from Lebanon.

But the new legislature, evenly divided between Christian and Muslim MPs, reflects the fact that the tradition of family-linked power bases and the quota-based sectarian system of politics is still alive and kicking.

At least 20 deputies of the 128 deputies have secured seats thanks to their family names. In all, there are 61 newcomers.

The most notable family name this time around is that of Saad Hariri, who is likely to be Lebanon's next premier. He is the son and heir, both financially and politically, of slain former prime minister Rafiq Hariri.

His father's murder in a bomb blast in February unleashed an outcry that forced the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon two months later, ending 29 years of military and political domination.

The young Hariri put together a winning electoral alliance that owed its success, in part, to a sympathy vote and which controls 72 of the 128 seats in parliament.

And the late premier's sister, Bahia Hariri, is back for a fourth term after she won a seat for her Sunni Muslim constituency in the south.

Three other women -- Christians Nayla Moawad, Solange Gemayel and Sitrida Geagea -- are also entering the new parliament buoyed more by their family names than other considerations.

Moawad and Gemayel are both the widows of slain presidents. Geagea is the wife of jailed Christian warlord Samir Geagea, and hopes her new role as lawmaker will win his release.

And MP Pierre Gemayel is the nephew of Solange and the son of former president Amin Gemayel. He carries the name of his illustrious grandfather, a minister and founder of the right-wing Kataeb party, which played a key role in the civil war.

A long-time key player on the political scene is Druze chief Walid Jumblatt, a key member of the anti-Syrian opposition who won reelection unopposed. A warlord during the civil war, he is the son of the late Kamal Jumblatt, a progressive feudal leader whose influence has marked Lebanon's
contemporary politics.

Politics in Lebanon have been a family affair ever since the country won its independence from France in 1943.

"The elections saw the emergence of new families but also consecrated (traditional) political dynasties," said analyst Joe Bahout.

But members of the pro-Syrian old guard that have ruled Lebanon for decades will also be widely present in the new parliament.

Observers expect outgoing speaker Nabih Berri, a pro-Syrian Shiite Muslim who has headed parliament since 1992, to be re-elected to the job after he won a seat in his south Lebanon stronghold.

Michel Murr, a Christian Greek Orthodox known for his close ties to Damascus, and former deputy speaker and several times cabinet minister, also secured a seat in the new parliament.

"This policy of parliamentary blocs is an element of modernism even if they are set up around family and personal leaderships," said Bahout.

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