Traditional party supporters are accused of interrupting the campaigns of opposition candidates in the next parliamentary election.

Lebanon, Beirut – Hicham Hayek expected supporters of Lebanon’s major political parties to oppose his parliamentary election campaign in the southern Lebanese hamlet of Sarafand, but he did not anticipate himself, his running mates, and attendees to be battered and escorted to safety by the Lebanese army.

Hayek, a medical specialist standing on the Together For Change slate in the May 15 election, told Al Jazeera that staff at the site had been beaten up by supporters of Hezbollah and its partner the Amal Movement before he came for the event on April 16.

“As we neared the location, we noticed that they had blocked the road leading to the event with tyres and were shouting at people, assaulting them, and abusing them,” he stated.

Southern Lebanon is an important political stronghold for Hezbollah, which is sponsored by Iran, and the Amal Movement, whose leader Nabih Berri has served as Speaker of Parliament since 1992.
“They hurled rocks at us and said, ‘This is Nabih Berri’s turf,'” says Soltan al-Hosseini, a pro-Hayek student activist.

“They said we were foreign spies.”

The candidates and supporters who managed to get inside the venue attempted to keep the event going, but more irate individuals arrived.

“Some individuals tried to reason with [them], asking them to open the road, but all they got was beaten up,” Hayek added. “Then one of them pulled out a pistol and shot at us.”
The army led Hayek and the others outside to ensure their safety, while others inside the venue were forced to depart by driving on a gravel road.

In a statement released shortly after the tragedy, Amal Movement denied any participation.

After activist attorneys filed a court complaint, the army apprehended a guy accused of firing at the gathering. Amal’s fans, on the other hand, have blocked a highway in the southern town with massive heaps of mud and burning tyres to demand his release.

Meanwhile, opposition candidates in Beirut claim they are under “systematic attacks” ahead of the legislative election.

Paula Yacoubian, an independent member and former broadcast journalist, is seeking re-election to parliament after being elected in 2018. She said that five of her campaign billboards in the capital’s Achrafieh area had been vandalised.
She has launched a lawsuit, believing that established political parties are behind the vandalism in order to scare her and her allies.