| Bint Jbeil | |
| Parl Name: | Parliament of Lebanon |
| District Label: | Governorate |
| District: | Nabatieh |
| Electorate: | 127,925 (2011) |
| Year: | 1953 |
| Abolished: | 2017 |
| Members Label: | MPs |
| Members: | Ayoub Hmayed, Hassan Fadlallah, Ali Ahmad Bazzi (2009-2017) |
| Elects Howmany: | 3 (Shia) |
Bint Jbeil electoral district (Arabic: دائرة بنت جبيل) was an electoral district in Lebanon. It covered all areas of the Bint Jbeil District.[1] The constituency elected three Shia Muslim members of the Parliament of Lebanon (for more information on the Lebanese electoral system, see Elections in Lebanon).[1]
The Ministry of Interior and Municipalities reported in 2011 that the constituency had 127,925 registered voters and the following religious composition: 88.11 percent Shia Muslims, 9.31 percent Maronites and 2.41 percent Greek Catholics.[1]
The Bint Jbeil electoral district was created in 1953, as a single-member constituency.[2] In the 1953 parliamentary election the seat was won by Ahmad al-As'ad, a powerful Shia landlord. His main opponent in the election had been the nationalist candidate Ali Bazzi.[3]
There was a reform of the seat distribution of parliamentary constituencies in 1957, but Bint Jbeil remained a single-member constituency. Instead the neighbouring electoral district of Nabatieh was awarded an additional Shia seat. Ahmad al-As'ad argued that this move had been done deliberately to curtail his political influence.[4] The Bint Jbeil seat was won by Ali Bazzi in the 1957 parliamentary election.[5]
The 1960 Election Law adopted a set-up of electoral districts largely based on the Qadas. As per the 1960 Law the Bint Jbeil electoral district elected two Shia Members of Parliament and was estimated to have had 28,043 Shia Muslim registered voters, 4,463 Maronites, 1,791 Greek Catholics, 96 Sunni Muslims and 68 Minorities.[6] In the 1960 parliamentary election Ahmed al-As'ad (now leading the Sha'ab party) and Sa'id Fawaz (42-year-old former government official) were elected from Bint Jbeil.[6] Al-As'ad's candidature had been supported by Fouad Chehab.[7] Ahmad al-As'ad died in March 1961. A by-election was held in April the same year in which his son Kamil al-As'ad was elected. Kamil al-As'ad became the leader of the Southern Bloc in parliament and was named Minister of Education and Fine Arts in the cabinet of Rashid Karami.[8]
In the 1964 parliamentary election the Bint Jbeil seats were won by Abdellatif Beydoun and Abdallah Ghneimeh.[9]
In the 1968 parliamentary election the candidates on the list supported by Adel Osseiran won the seats in Bint Jbeil. Sa'id Fawaz returned to parliament, accompanied by the physician Ibrahim Cheaito.[10] Out of the 31,034 registered voters, 17,793 participated in the election.[10]
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Won? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sa'id Fawaz | Democratic Parliamentary Front | 8,613 | 48.41% | ||
| Ibrahim Cheaito | Democratic Parliamentary Front | 8,077 | 45.39% | ||
| Abdellatif Beydoun | 7,714 | 43.35% | |||
| Ali Abbas Khalil | 6,387 | 35.90% | |||
| Husayn Muruwwah | Lebanese Communist Party | 1,446 | 8.13% | ||
| Ahmad Majid | 1,013 | 5.69% | |||
| Ghassan Shararah | Ba'athist[11] | 786 | 4.42% | ||
| Abdallah al-Ghutaymi | 715 | 4.02% |
In the 1972 parliamentary election Abdellatif Beydoun and Hamid Dakroub were elected from Bint Jbeil.[14]
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Won? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abdellatif Beydoun | 10,710 | |||
| Hamid Dakroub | 9,912 | |||
| Ali Bazzi | 7,977 | |||
| Nazem Khalil | 3,229 | |||
| Ahmad Murad | Lebanese Communist Party | 3,160 | ||
| Ali Yusuf | Ba'athist | 1,422 | ||
| Abdallah al-Ghutaymi | 1,245 |
Abdellatif Beydoun died in 1984. In 1991 Abdallah al-Amin was appointed to replace him as parliamentarian of Bint Jbeil.[15] Al-Amin was the regional secretary of the Arab Socialist Baath Party.[2]
A new set-up of constituencies was used ahead of the 1992 general election, abolishing the 1960 Election Law constituencies.[16] However, the 2008 Doha Agreement instituted a set-up of electoral districts similar to those of the 1960 Election Law.[17] Thus the Bint Jbeil electoral district was recreated ahead of the 2009 parliamentary election.[16] The electoral district now elected three Shia Members of Parliament.[1]
During the 2009 election there were 123,396 registered voters in Bint Jbeil.[1] Ahead of the election the March 8 Alliance candidates were expected to win the election easily.[18] The March 8 Alliance fielded Ayoub Hmayed (Amal Movement), Hassan Fadlallah (Hezbollah) and Ali Ahmad Bazzi (Amal Movement) as its candidates.[1]
Ali Mhanna and Dr. Ahmad al-Khahwaja stood as candidates of the Lebanese Option Gathering.[19] [20] Lebanese Option Gathering leader Ahmad al-As'ad declared before the election that his party sought to challenge the Hezbollah 'monopoly' in the Shia community.[21] The Lebanese Communist Party opted to boycott the election in Bint Jbeil.[22]
52,899 voters cast their votes in Bint Jbeil (42.86 percent).[1] The National News Agency reported that voting was calm. UNIFIL forces deployed along the border on election day.[23]
All three candidates of the March 8 list were elected with wide margins.[1]
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Won? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hassan Fadlallah | Hezbollah | 49,582 | 94.24% | ||
| Ali Ahmad Bazzi | Amal Movement | 49,220 | 93.04% | ||
| Ayoub Hmayed | Amal Movement | 48,775 | 92.20% | ||
| Ali Mhanna | Lebanese Option Gathering | 616 | 1.16% | ||
| Ahmad al-Khawaja | Lebanese Option Gathering | 554 | 1.05% | ||
| Mahmoud Beydoun | Socialist Arab Lebanon Vanguard[24] [25] | 470 | 0.89% | ||
| Mohammad Kdouh | 299 | 0.56% | |||
| Nazem Ibrahim | 227 | 0.43% | |||
| Mohammad Atwi | 19 | 0.03% |
There were 783 blank votes and 420 invalid ballots.[26]
As per the new Vote Law adopted by parliament on June 16, 2017, the Bint Jbeil electoral district merged into a Marjayoun-Nabatieh-Hasbaya-Bint Jbeil district.[27]