Registration Complete - 702 candidates

The registration for the elections is complete with 702 candidates registered. IFES (The International Foundation of Electoral Systems) complied a list of all the registered candidates. The most important news: 1. there is only one uncontested seat, which is in the Metn Armenian Orthodox seat; the Beirut II district will be a competitive race despite an agreement at Doha; that there appear at the moment to be too many candidates for certain seats and that both the March 14 and March 8 coalition will have to negotiate internally as to the final list they propose.

The breakdown of the candidates in the districts:

Akkar (North Lebanon) - 7 seats 51 candidates
Sunni 3 seats 27 candidates
Greek Orthodox 2 seats 14 candidates
Alawite 1 seat 4 candidates
Maronite 1 seat 6 candidates

Minieh-Dinnieh (North Lebanon) - 3 seats 40 candidates
Sunni 3 seats 40 candidates

Tripoli (North Lebanon) - 8 seats 50 candidates
Sunni 5 seats 27 candidates
Alawite 1 seat 10 candidates
Greek Orthodox 1 seat 5 candidates
Maronite 1 seat and 8 candidates

Zgharta (Mount Lebanon) - 3 seats 11 candidates
Maronite 3 seats 11 candidates

Koura (Mount Lebanon) - 3 seats 14 candidates
Greek Orthodox 3 seats 14 candidates

Bcharre (Mount Lebanon) - 2 seats 8 candidates
Maronite 2 seats 8 candidates

Batroun (Mount Lebanon) - 2 seats 12 candidates
Maronite 2 seats 12 candidates

Baalbeck-Hermel (Bekka)- 10 seats 51 candidates
Shia 6 seats 33 candidates
Sunni 2 seats 8 candidates
Greek Catholic 1 seat 6 candidates
Maronite 1 seat 4 candidates

Zahle (Bekka) 7 seats 69 candidates
Greek Catholic 2 seats 10 candidates
Armenian Orthodox 1 seat 8 candidates
Greek Orthodox 1 seat 8 candidates
Maronite 1 seat 7 candidates
Shia 1 seat 13 candidates
Sunni 1 seat 23 candidates

West Bekka-Rashaya (Bekka) 6 seats 34 candidates
Sunni 2 seats 19 candidates
Druze 1 seat 2 candidates
Greek Orthodox 1 seat 4 candidates
Maronite 1 seat 2 candidates
Shia 1 seat 7 candidates

Jbeil (Mount Lebanon) 3 seats 27 candidates
Maronite 2 seats 14 candidates
Shia 1 seat 13 candidates

Kesrwan (Mount Lebanon) 5 seats 30 candidates
Maronite 5 seats 30 candidates

Metn (Mount Lebanon) 8 seats 33 candidates
Maronite 4 seats 17 candidates
Greek Orthodox 2 seats 6 candidates
Armenian Orthodox 1 seat 1 candidates
Greek Catholic 1 seat 8 candidates

Baabda (Mount Lebanon) 6 seats 45 candidates
Maronite 3 seats 20 candidates
Shia 2 seats 16 candidates
Druze 1 seats 9 candidates

Aley (Mount Lebanon) 5 seats 17 candidates
Druze 2 seats 3 candidates
Maronite 2 seats 7 candidates
Greek Orthodox 1 seat 7 candidates

Chouf (Mount Lebanon) 8 seats 23 candidates
Marontie 3 seats 8 candidates
Druze 2 seats 5 candidates
Sunni 2 seats 7 candidates
Greek Catholic 1 seat 3 candidates

Beirut 1 5 seats 23 candidates
Armenian Catholic 1 seat 5 candidates
Armenain Orthodox 1 seat 5 candidates
Greek Catholic 1 seat 2 candidates
Greek Orthodox 1 seat 6 candidates
Maronite 1 seat 5 candidates

Beirut 2 4 seats 19 candidates
Armenian Orthodox 2 seats 6 candidates
Shia 1 seat 8 candidates
Sunni 1 seat 5 candidates

Beirut 3 10 seats 48 candidates
Sunni 5 seats 28 candidates
Christian Minorities 1 seat 3 candidates
Druze 1 seat 3 candidates
Evangelical 1 seat 3 candidates
Greek Orthodox 1 seat 5 candidates
Shia 1 seat 6 candidates

Saida (South Lebanon) 2 seats 5 candidates
Sunni 2 seats 5 candidates

Jezzine (South Lebanon) 3 seats 25 candidates
Marontie 2 seats 14 candidates
Greek Catholic 1 seat 11 candidates

Zahrany (South Lebanon) 3 seats 11 candidates
Shia 2 seats 6 candidates
Greek Catholic 1 seat 5 candidates

Nabatieh (South Lebanon) 3 seats 15 candidates
Shia 3 seats 15 candidates

Hasbaya-Marjayoun (South Lebanon) 5 seats 20 candidates
Shia 2 seats 7 candidates
Druze 1 seat 2 candidates
Greek Orthodox 1 seat 2 candidates
Sunni 1 seat 9 candidates

Tyre (South Lebanon) 4 seats 8 candidates
Shia 4 seats 8 candidates

Bint Jbeil (South Lebanon) 3 seats 11 candidates
Shia 3 seats 11 candidates

Election Campainging and Facebook

Facebook is going to be an instrumental campaigning tool in this election. In the virtual campaigning world most candidates will revert to the use of facebook rather than websites or other mediums. The use of facebook in the Lebanese elections has already began to show its prominence with many candidates setting up profile pages, facebook groups and events.

The role of facebook in this election will be continued to be looked at in this blog.

A Diamond in the Sun (http://adiamondinsunlight.wordpress.com/) has given a interesting commentary on the sort of campaigning on the internet Lebanese politicians are expected to carry out.

Murr and the Metn Christian Alliance

MP Michel Murr announced that he will have candidates from both the Tashnak and Phalange parties on his list for June's parliamentary elections, dubbing it the "Metn Christian Alliance." Murr has split from his alliance with Aoun, although Tashnak are still in an alliance with FPM.

Lebanese Forces Preparing Conference to Announce Candidates for the Election

MP Strida Geagea said the Lebanese Forces are preparing for a conference soon to announce the names of the party candidates in Lebanon adding that the current 5 candidates are Elie Keyrouz and her in Bsharri, Farid Habib in Koura, Antoine Zahra in Batroun, and George Adwan in Shouf”.