The staggered polls, held over four Sundays ending June 19, is set to bring in an anti-Syrian assembly to charter Lebanon's future, free of Syrian domination.

Some 100 candidates are competing in Mount Lebanon for 35 seats, allocated to different sects according to Lebanon's power-sharing political system. In the eastern Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border, 119 people were competing for 23 seats. Official results were not expected before Monday.

Forty-two legislators have already been elected in the first two rounds of voting in Beirut and south.

The polls opened for 11 hours on Sunday, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The polls closed on schedule without any reports of serious violence. The Army command warned its units against taking sides in Sunday's balloting, particularly given the escalating rivalry between competing political parties.

One positive impact of the current election season is the alliances being formed between former foes. Many voters in Mount Lebanon said they voted for Opposition leader Walid Jumblatt's ticket, because of the grouping of former rivals who battled each other during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

"These alliances should happen so that we can forget the past. This is the only way to get over the war," Nada Najed, a housewife, said as she lined up outside a polling station.

Meanwhile, Michel Aoun fought and lost a war against Syria in 1989, was one of Syria's main Lebanese foes but recently broke with other opponents of Damascus and forged alliances with pro-Syrian politicians. Aoun says his feud with Syria is over now that Damascus has withdrawn from Lebanon. He criticized his rivals for turning against Damascus in recent months.

Jumblatt claims that pro-Syrians brought Aoun out of exile to divide the opposition, and pledged not to allow the former general "to steal our victory."

"Aoun is still an untested electoral force. This weekend will tell whether he is a tsunami or a bubble that will burst," said Hani Hammoud, editor in chief of Hariri-backed al-Mustaqbal. "Right now, he is in bed with Syria's allies. We don't know how he will vote once he is elected."

Aoun had an unusually humble tone on Sunday, vowing to "bow before the people's will."

President Lahoud cast his ballot in his native town of Baabdat Sunday, said he was bent on serving out his entire extended term in power to the last minute of Nov. 24, 2007, adding "no one can place me in isolation. He was responding to opposition threats to oust him from the Baabda palace after the elections, on the grounds that the 3-year extension of his term by the Lebanese parliament last September was forcefully dictated by Syria.

Lahoud called on the new parliament to write a new electoral law to "guarantee true representation for the Lebanese people." When questioned about his backing of the current 2000 electoral law, Lahoud responded "That's a lie. I strongly objected to that law." He did not specifically deny, however, that the 2000 law carried his signature.

Source: Ya Libnan, Reuters, Naharnet