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Hezbollah chief vows to maintain calm following elections defeat

Israel Materials 18 June 2009 12:03 (UTC +04:00)

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said that his group will maintain calm in Lebanon despite defeat in parliamentary elections, Al-Manar TV reported Wednesday night.
  
During a ceremony to honor his electoral team in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Lebanese Shiite armed group leader said his party accepts the elections results, but will follow up election violations in a legal way and will not resort to street protests, Xinhua reported.
  
The ruling majority defeated the Hezbollah-led opposition in the parliamentary elections on June 7, gaining 71 seats in the 128- member parliament.
  
"The elections took place under the U.S., Western and Arab pressure and intimidation to impose their options on the results and on the will of Lebanese people," Nasrallah said, referring to the huge amount of money used to buy votes.
  
He stressed that the ruling majority adopted an election campaign "built on lies and rumors, while the opposition abided by the moral rules of truth and commitment."
  
The Syria and Iran-backed opposition "enjoys a popular majority, " but the parliament majority won more seats according to the election law, said Nasrallah.
  
The total number of voters who choose the opposition reached over 800,000 across Lebanon, while the votes the ruling majority took were over 600,000.
  
However, according to the constituency divisions in the Lebanese election law, the ruling coalition gained 71 seats and the opposition 57 seats.
  
Nasrallah addressed the pro-government ruling majority leaders who made remarks against the elections in Iran, saying "I advise ( them) not to interfere in Iranian elections because this is an issue that you don not understand."
  
He outlined the Israeli threat of "abolishing the existence of Palestine which was clearly shown in Netanyahu's speech," and called for dialogue among Lebanese leaders to face Israeli threats.

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