Firebrand former general Michel Aoun scored a stunning win yesterday in Lebanon’s parliamentary elections to emerge as the main Christian political force in the country, only weeks after returning from exile. Aoun, a prominent figure during Lebanon’s civil war, dealt a major blow to the existing Christian opposition and its hopes of securing strong representation in the new 128-seat parliament and charting a course away from Syrian influence.

The polls, being held over four weekends ending on June 19, are the first without the presence of Syrian troops for three decades and are set to usher in an assembly with an anti-Syrian majority for the first time since the 1975-1990 civil war.

But Aoun’s victory could complicate the new political landscape in already highly factionalized Lebanon as it boosts the chances of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud staying in power. Aoun has questioned opposition demands for Lahoud to go.

There was no Aoun-allied candidate for the last seat. “General Michel Aoun has established an influence on the Christian arena unmatched” by any other political leader or party since the civil war, said the As-Safir newspaper. Aoun, who launched a failed “war of liberation” against Syrian forces in Lebanon in 1989, was forced into exile after the Syrians crushed his revolt in 1990.

He spent 14 years in France before returning in May, two weeks after Syrian troops left. In exile, he lobbied for world support to force Syria out, claiming some credit for a September 2004 UN resolution demanding a withdrawal.

<B>World pressure </B>

Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon in April after international pressure and mass street protests sparked by the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Aoun’s supporters say he is untainted by years of corruption among Lebanese politicians while Syria held sway after the civil war and accuse rivals of trying to contain his influence. He fell out with other anti-Syrian leaders after returning.

“I believe it is a victory because all political forces sided together against us,” said Aoun, vowing to fight corruption which he blames for Lebanon’s economic problems. International creditors who have helped Lebanon cope with its $34 billion public debt have demanded that the country must enact financial reforms.

Aoun-backed candidates narrowly lost to opponents supported by Druze chieftain Walid Jumblatt in the Baabda-Aley district, where 11 seats were contested. Jumblatt, whose candidates won all eight seats in his mainly Druze stronghold of Shouf, said Aoun’s victory was a defeat for moderation and accused Aoun of being used by Syria and its Lebanese allies to divide and weaken the Christians.

“We are back to 1976 when the Syrians entered Lebanon with the pretext of protecting the Christians, but their first and last intention was to control Lebanon,” he told LBC television. The pro-Syrian Shi’ite Hizbollah guerrilla group and its allies increased their share in parliament with 10 candidates winning seats in the eastern Baalbek-Hermel district. The alliance now has 35 seats in the assembly.

Disarmament of Hizbollah is one issue expected to face the new assembly, in which seats are divided equally between Muslims and Christians under a complex power-sharing system. Hariri’s son suffered a setback in Zahle, a mainly Christian constituency in the eastern Bekaa Valley, where he has no traditional base. But candidates backed by Saad al-Hariri won all six seats in a mainly Sunni Bekaa constituency.

<B>Nadim LADKI</B>