Beirut II () was a parliamentary constituency in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. It covered three neighbourhoods (''quartiers'') in the north-eastern parts of the capital;

Port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

, Medawar and Bachoura.IFES.
Electoral Districts in Lebanon
'' The constituency elected four members of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. Two of the Beirut II MPs had to be Armenian Orthodox, 1

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

and 1

Shia Muslim Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

(for more information on the Lebanese electoral system, see

Elections in Lebanon Elections in Lebanon are allotted to occur every four years. Every citizen is allowed to vote, but the positions are constitutionally allocated by religious affiliation. Lebanon was ranked second most electoral democracy in the Middle East accor ...

). The constituency was created with the 2008 Doha Agreement, ahead of the 2009 parliamentary election.

Demographics

The Ministry of Interior and Municipalities reported in 2011 that the constituency had 102,569 voters and the following religious composition: 31.22%

s, 26.37%

s, 25.25%

Armenian Orthodox The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic Church, belongs to the Arme ...

, 3.44% other Christian Minorities, 3.42%

Maronites Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally resided near Mount ...

and 3.35%

Armenian Catholic Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

s. Beirut II had the highest percentage of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

registered voters of all parliamentary constituencies.

2009 election

Ahead of the 2009 polls the two main contenders the March 8 and the March 14 alliances, had agreed in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

to divide the Beirut II seats between them. Per the Doha Agreement the opposition would get the Shia seat, the majority the Sunni seat and the Armenian seat would be split between the two.''Daily Star''.
Thousands of Lebanese expats arrive to cast their votes
' At the time of the 2009 elections the constituency had 101,787 registered voters, out of whom 27,787 cast their votes. Its 27.3% electoral participation was the lowest amongst the constituencies around the country (the national average was 50.7%). There were 450 invalid ballots and 315 blank votes. Voting in Beirut II was largely calm.

Armenian seats in the 2009 election

Two Armenian Orthodox candidates were elected unopposed; Sebouh Kalpakian and Arthur Nazarian.Ministry of Interior and Municipalities.
Beirut II district
'' Kalpakian had served as the chairman of the Lebanon Executive Board of the Hunchnak Party for thirteen years. He had left this position and emigrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, but ahead of the 2009 polls he returned to Lebanon to run for parliament. Nazarian was the candidate of the

Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (, abbr. ARF (ՀՅԴ) or ARF-D), also known as Dashnaktsutyun (Armenians, Armenian: Դաշնակցություն, Literal translation, lit. "Federation"), is an Armenian nationalism, Armenian nationalist a ...

('Tashnaqs'). The Ministry of Interior and Municipalities declared Kalpakian and Nazarian elected unopposed on April 22, 2009.

Shia seat in the 2009 election

For the Shia seat there were two candidates; Hani Kobeissy and Abbas Yaghi. The March 14 alliance did not field any Shia candidate, as per the agreement between the

Amal Movement The Amal Movement () is a Lebanese political party and militia affiliated mainly with the Shia community of Lebanon. It was founded by Musa al-Sadr and Hussein el-Husseini in 1974 as the "Movement of the Deprived." The party has been led by ...

and

Future Movement The Future Movement () is a Lebanese political party affiliated with the Sunni sect. The party was founded as a coalition in 1995 led by Rafic Hariri which was known as the Hariri Bloc but was officially founded in 2007. The party is led by Saad ...

in Doha. On April 22, 2009, the

Hizbullah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

candidate and incumbent parliamentarian Amin Sherri officially withdrew from the race, in favour of the Amal candidate Kobeissy. According to media sources this move was done on behalf of Hizbullah in order to ease tensions between Amal and the

Free Patriotic Movement The Free Patriotic Movement (, ) is a Lebanese political party. Founded by Michel Aoun in 1994, the party is currently led by Aoun's son-in-law Gebran Bassil since 2015. History Background For many years, while Michel Aoun was and exiled i ...

over candidatures in

Jezzine Jezzine ( ''Jizzīn'') is a municipality in Lebanon, located from Sidon and south of Beirut. It is the capital of Jezzine District. Surrounded by mountain peaks, pine forests (like the Bkassine Pine Forest), and at an average altitude of 95 ...

and

Baabda Baabda () is the capital city of Baabda District and Mount Lebanon Governorate, western Lebanon. Baabda was also the capital city of the autonomous Ottoman Mount Lebanon that existed from 1861 to 1918. Baabda is home to the Italian, Japanese, ...

. In the end Kobeissy won the seat with a wide margin, obtaining 15,126 votes against 195 for Yaghi.

Sunni seat in the 2009 election

The main contenders for the Sunni seat were Nouhad Machnouk of the

and Adnan Arakji from the March 8 alliance. Although the March 8 and March 14 alliances had agreed in Doha that the Sunni seat would go to the March 14 alliance Arakji refused to step down from the race, causing a degree of controversy.''Daily Star''.
Hariri casts ballot, says 'voting is a good feeling'
' Initially Hizbullah had declared that it would support neither Machnouk nor Arakji. But just a few days ahead of the polls the party declared that it would call for a vote for Machnouk, as per the Doha Agreement. According to the newspaper ''

al-Hayat ''Al-Hayat'' ( ''Life'') was an Arabic newspaper based in Beirut from its founding 28 January 1946 to 1976 and in London after its refounding in 1988. It was a pan-Arab newspaper owned by Saudi Prince Khalid bin Sultan, that had a circulation ...

'', the shift in the Hizbullah position came after pressure from the

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

i Prime Minister/Foreign Minister

Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber bin Mohammed bin Thani Al Thani (Arabic: ; born 1959), also known informally by his initials HBJ, is a Qatari politician. He was the Prime Minister of Qatar from 3 April 2007 to 26 June 2013, and foreign minister from ...

. Machnouk won the seat with a wide margin obtaining 16,583 votes, Adnan Arakji finishing second with 8,071 votes, Mohieddine Majbour obtained 231 votes and Jalal Kebrit a mere 10 votes.

2017 Vote Law

As per the new Vote Law adopted by parliament on June 16, 2017, the electoral districts of Beirut were reorganized. The erstwhile Beirut II district was split, with the Medawar quartier and the two Armenian Orthodox seats going to the Christian-dominated Beirut I district. Port, Bachoura and the two Muslim seats merged into the Muslim-dominated Beirut III district (henceforth known as 'Beirut II').''Daily Star''.
Analysts skeptical new vote law will lead to change
''

References

{{coord missing, Lebanon Beirut 2009 02 Beirut 2009 02 Beirut Electoral 02 Beirut Electoral 02