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Perhaps there were no real winners or losers in last weekend’s poll, writes MICHAEL JANSENin Beirut

LEBANON WAS not transformed into a bastion of the West by the majority obtained by the US-supported ruling coalition in Sunday’s parliamentary poll. Although hailed as a victory for Arab “moderates,” analysts here pointed out at a post-election debriefing that the political balance in the country remains the same as it was before the poll. Although the Syrian- and Iranian-supported opposition did not win the slender majority predicted by polls, Paul Salem of the Carnegie Middle East Centre stated firmly “nobody won and nobody lost”. The ruling bloc of Sunni Muslims, Christians and Druze secured 71 seats in the 128-member parliament, one less than in the election of 2005, while the opposition bloc of Shias, Christians and Greek Orthodox took 57 seats, gaining one.