Municipal polls kick off in Lebanon

The Lebanese have taken part in the first round of the municipal elections, as some 20,000 security personnel are mobilized to oversee the vote.

On Sunday, nearly 800,000 voters went to the polling stations in the Christian-dominated Mount Lebanon, AFP reported. The event is to be held on four Sundays up until the end of May, Reuters said.

The poll marks Lebanon's first local elections since 2004. More than three million voters are eligible to elect more than 7,500 candidates, including 466 women, to 3,507 seats.

"The aim of the municipality is developmental and not political. So, those who want to settle political scores or regain strength, I hope that they do that outside the municipal elections," candidate Ziad Hawwat told Reuters.

The country is said to be enjoying an atmosphere of relative political ease since December 2009, when the parliament overwhelmingly voted for the national unity government of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, which included three ministers backed by the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125194§ionid=351020203.