Elections likely to buttress Lebanon's religious divide

In contrast to Friday's historic referendums in Ireland the local elections held in Lebanon yesterday, the first in 35 years, do not herald a fresh start for a country torn by civil strife.

This is because this consultation is based on the same communal carve-up which caused two civil wars since 1958. Although Lebanese politicians committed themselves to the dismantling of Lebanon's confessional system and structures in the 1990 Taif reform programme which ended the latest civil war, they have not done so. Instead, the Prime Minister, Mr Rafiq Hariri, has claimed that the Taif accord did not take into account the "sectarian reality" of Lebanon, which was not a true democracy but a "unique country".

Thus, this poll, taking place on three successive Sundays, will reaffirm and solidify the confessional mix imposed upon the country under the French mandate. Younger Christians will replace older Christian as councillors and "mukhtars", Muslims and Druze their co-religionists. And the proportion of Christians, Muslims and Druze on councils will remain the same. Members of each of Lebanon's 18 recognised sects will take their seats in yet another round of musical chairs.

The first round of balloting took place in the largely Christian Mount Lebanon governorate, just north and east of the capital. Because of the sensitivity of this region, polling has been postponed until June 28th for three of its municipalities, including Baabda, the village where the presidential palace is located.

At stake are 7,662 council seats and 2,041 mukhtar posts in 646 municipalities. The mukhtar post, a relic of Ottoman times, is an unsalaried but key official who, for a fee, affixes his or her signature to birth and death certificates and applications for identity cards and passports. The mukhtar is almost always an influential figure in his locality.

During this campaign Lebanon's oldest serving mukhtar, 107-year-old Abdel-Rahman Skafi, from a suburb of the southern port city of Sidon, stood down in favour of his 58-year-old son, Ahmad.

To cast their votes electors are required to travel to their natal or familial villages and towns. Before the wars this used to be an occasion for family gatherings and celebration. Today this is not the case, for many Lebanese have tenuous ties with villages which have been largely depopulated.

Furthermore, 16 years of civil war eradicated 21 Christian villages from the Lebanese map, so their inhabitants have been excluded from the poll. So, too, have the 200,000 Lebanese civilians living in the boomerang-shaped Israeli occupation zone along the frontier. Their local officials will be reappointed by Beirut.

One positive development during this campaign was the return of right- wing Maronite Catholics to active politics. Since their defeat in the civil war in 1991, they have been boycotting political life, including the 1992 and 1996 parliamentary elections.

Some surprising alliances have been made between old and bitter enemies. In the Chouf mountains, directly east and south of the capital - where Maronite militiamen fought fiercely against the Druze to establish domination in 1983 following the Israeli occupation of the area - the Druze leader and Minister of Refugee Resettlement, Mr Walid Jumblatt, has contracted an alliance with the head of the most anti-government Maronite party, Mr Dory Chamoun, with the aim of defeating independents and other right-wing Christians.

And in Beirut, the Prime Minister, Mr Rafiq Hariri, has been negotiating with both the Shia Muslim Hizbollah movement and the secular Shia Amal, led by the influential speaker of parliament, Mr Nabih Berri, a long-time rival of the prime minister.

AFP adds: Voters turned out in force yesterday for Lebanon's first municipal elections in 35 years. The count started immediately after polling stations closed in the Mount Lebanon region around Beirut after a day which saw a high turnout and was relatively free from security incidents or fraud.

Results of the first phase of the municipal elections are due to be published by the Interior Ministry today.

Voter turnout was particularly high in Mount Lebanon, in comparison with 1996 legislative elections which were boycotted by the Christian opposition in protest at what they said was excessive Syrian influence over Lebanese political life.