Today is their day to show their strength. It is expected that the Hezbollah, Berri Coalition will sweep the elections in the south, as Hariri did in Beirut last week. So far six of the 23 seats being contested in the south have been won as unopposed.

Both groups are staunch pro- Syrian allies. Both were backed by Damascus during the 1975-1990 civil war. Both were supported by Syria after the war. After PM Hariri's assassination, both groups stayed away from the anti-Syrian protests. To show their loyalty to Syria, Hezbollah arranged their largest pro-Syrian demonstration in downtown Beirut.

Early reports indicate that voter turnout is low in two main areas of the South:

Jezzine: In this mostly Christian town, there were many calls for election boycott. The Christians feel that the 2000 election law is not fair for them , because the smaller area of Jezzine was made part of a large district, which will dilute the effect of the christain vote . Hence they feel this will not be a true representaion of their community. General Aoun is one of the Christian leaders who has called for election boycott. Cardinal Sfeir, was the first to object to the 2000 election law, because of Jezzine .

Sidon: Here the situation is different. Both Candidates, Bahia Hariri and Osama Ossairan, won as unopposed candidates. Even though they both ran as independent candidates, the Hezbollah, Berri Coalition left slots in their lists for them, which made them win by default. The turnout will be low here because the voters will have little incentive to vote , since results are already won.
In a televised interview this morning, after voting in Sidon, she attributed her uncontested win, to the assassination of her brother, slain PM Rafic Hariri.

Whatever the turnout will be, Hezbollah and Amal Coalition is projected to win.

Sources: Ya Libnan