'To face Hezbollah, we need a strong party'

Reporting for MEE from Beirut, Laurent Perpigna Iban has found an increasing willingness by Lebanese voters to give new independent candidates a chance and reject the old established parties, although some Maronite Christian voters said they feared this could end up empowering Hezbollah.

In Martyrs' Square a small group gathered for a souvenir photo before making their way to the polls, along with Ali Abbas, a candidate for the Beirut The Change list.

"This is a very important moment. We are always mobilised, and we want to be influential. It is very symbolic that we gather in this square that experienced the revolution of October 17, 2019," he said, referring to mass protests that took place amid that year's economic crisis.

"We were involved in it, and we are keeping it alive through our commitment to another Lebanon."

Gemmayze, a nearby Maronite Christian area, is a stronghold for the Kataeb and for the Lebanese Forces party, and the activists of both of the long-established political forces seem absolutely sure of their performance.

"People here know that they can only trust us. To face Hezbollah, we need a strong party," one Lebanese Forces activist said.

The Kataebs, for their part, insisted that they were also present during the 2019 uprising, highlighting their "natural opposition" to the Lebanese system.

Others are less keen on handing their votes to parties that have been seen as failing the country for so many decades.

"I don't want to give [traditional parties] my voice any more, that's enough," said a Beirut woman in her thirties.

"I don't know if the independents will be able to do anything, maybe I'm wrong, but I want to turn to them today."