Polls close in second round of Lebanon's municipal elections

The polling stations in the second round of the municipal elections in the Mount Lebanon district closed on Sunday.

The elections were organized to cover 325 municipalities in the main regions of Baabda, Jbeil, Keserouan, Aley, al-Chouf, and Metn amid tightened security measures.

The voter turnout was 56.5 percent in Jbeil, 47.2 percent in Metn, 49.5 percent in Chouf, 58 percent in Keserouan, 50 percent in Aley and 42 percent in Baabda, according to the Lebanese Interior Ministry.

The most heated battle occurred in the coastal city of Jounieh.

It is the first municipal elections organized in six years in Lebanon while the parliamentary elections that were due in 2013 were last organized in 2009.

The parliament has since extended its mandate twice in 2013 for one year, and in 2014 for three years that will end in June 2017.

Lebanon has also been without president since the six-year term of President Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and the parliament failed in 39 consecutive time to elect a new president.

The municipal elections were organized last week in Beirut and the Bekaa region and are to continue during the next weekend in north Lebanon, and the week after in south Lebanon.

Source: XINHUA