Amal and Hezbollah seek votes in Hamra district

In the Hamra district of Beirut, where a large Sunni community resides, the tents set up around the various voting points by the large Shia parties Hezbollah and Amal do not go unnoticed.

Many voters do not hide their surprise.

“They want to take advantage of the vacuum left by the withdrawal of Saad Hariri,” says one woman, who preferred to remain anonymous, referring to the former prime minister, whose party is not participating in the election.

Hicham, 40, supports the Beirut Needs a Heart list sponsored by Sunni businessman and MP Fouad Makhzoumi.

"We are confident and very motivated to see a change. This cannot continue, we want Lebanon to recover from all these tragedies. But also that the country can be delivered from Hezbollah, which has control on everyone. So we want to launch a democratic opposition to face and defeat them democratically.

“They have tents all over the place, and none of them are from that neighbourhood, so I hope they don’t do well here.”