The elections are the first since 1990 to be free of Syrian interference. About 100 observers from the United Nations and European Union are in Lebanon, the first time that a Lebanese Government has permitted international monitoring.

Voting was brisk in Muslim districts of Beirut, where support runs high for the family of Rafik Hariri, a former Prime Minister whose assassination in February sparked mass demonstrations that led to Syria withdrawing its troops from Lebanon last month. Mr Hariri’s son, Saad, 35, heads a near-unbeatable list of candidates and is expected to sweep Beirut.

Nine of the city’s 19 parliamentary seats had gone to candidates on Mr Hariri’s electoral lists before voting began, rival candidates having dropped out of the race or failed to stand.

Huge banners featuring a beaming Mr Hariri were suspended above streets in West Beirut carrying the slogan “Maak”, Arabic for “With you”. Many posters portrayed Mr Hariri superimposed on a picture of his father. One bore the slogan: “He who fathers children lives on.”

Mr Hariri voted early with his two brothers and called for a large turnout, saying “each ballot is a bullet fired at Rafik Hariri’s assassins”.

Rafik Hariri’s widow, Nazek, read a statement after casting her vote, saying: “My husband had the honour of rebuilding Lebanon after the civil war and reuniting the whole nation in a true reconciliation for peaceful coexistence with his blood.” Hundreds of Hariri supporters danced and cheered outside the family’s residence in the Koreitem neighbourhood.

Security was high in the city and paramilitary police stood guard at polling stations. Minibuses hired by candidates carried voters to cast their votes. Cars plastered in campaign posters and pictures of election candidates raced up and down the streets.

Despite the euphoria of the anti-Syrian demonstrations this year, many Lebanese have grown disillusioned. Instead of tackling pressing issues, such as the moribund Lebanese economy, disarming the militant group Hezbollah, redressing relations with Syria and pushing through long-awaited reforms, the political elite has resorted to the customary haggling over the distribution of power and influence.

Karim Makdissi, Professor of Politics at the American University of Beirut, said: “It is a betrayal of all those demonstrations, which represented a moment of true popular anger with the system. “It could have gone in a different, positive direction — but it was taken over by the political sharks, who used that idealism to serve their own purposes.”

Turnout was lower in Christian areas of Beirut. Some residents boycotted the polls because of what they consider to be a lack of representation.

Hassan Sabei, the Interior Minister, said that unofficial results after polls closed showed voter turnout in Beirut was about 28 per cent, compared with 35 per cent in the 2000 parliamentary elections.

These elections are being held under a gerrymandered law, introduced under Syrian tutelage, that favoured Damascus’s allies in parliament.

The Opposition expects to win 80 to 90 places in the 128-seat parliament, but disagreements over the law in the run-up to the elections have aggravated sectarian tensions. The two opposition powerhouses, led by Mr Hariri and Walid Jumblatt, the leader of the Druze community, struck a deal with the two main Shia groups to accept the electoral law and hold the polls on schedule. This angered some Christian opposition members , who felt that they had been sold out.

Simon Karam, a Christian opposition campaigner and former Lebanese Ambassador to Washington, said: “The elections will produce the political status quo minus the Syrians. It will be a very serious obstacle in the way of any reform of the regime — and reforming the regime will be vital for the survival of Lebanon.”

The heightened sectarianism and behind-the-scenes deal-making have led to some unlikely electoral alliances. The Shia Hezbollah, one of the most ardent supporters of Damascus, has teamed up with the Hariri and Jumblatt blocs in some districts, but Michel Aoun, a former Lebanese army commander and staunch anti-Syrian campaigner who returned to Lebanon this month after 14 years’ exile in France, has been shunned by the Opposition. The fiery former general, considered an unreliable ally by some opposition figures, has had to seek allies among his formerly pro-Syrian enemies.

With Mr Aoun effectively shut out of the first round of voting in Beirut, his followers have plastered posters in Christian areas calling for a boycott.

In the Maronite quarter of Gemaize, Hariri supporters clustered around the entrance of a polling station. The ground was littered with discarded official ballot slips.

Habib Abi Rashed, 38, said: “I voted with a white [blank] paper. I don’t feel the Christian candidates are with the Christians. They are all with Hariri and they have been imposed on us.”

AT THE POLLS

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