Lebanon’s politically divided Christians were considered the determining factor in the election; 58 per cent voted for the ruling coalition and 42 per cent for Aoun’s bloc, according to Lebanon’s An Nahar newspaper.

Under Lebanon’s governing system, half of the parliament’s 128 seats are allocated for Christians and the presidency is reserved for a Maronite Catholic. Christians represent about 40 per cent of Lebanon’s population of approximately four million.

The March 14 ruling coalition, comprised of Sunnis, Druze and Christians, was victorious in four of Lebanon’s five major cities, including Beirut and Tripoli. Of the 128 parliamentary seats, the ruling coalition now holds 71 seats, a gain of one since the 2005 elections. The opposition now has 57 seats, a loss of one. Hezbollah has maintained its 11 seats.

The outcome “is favourable to what the U.S. wants and most likely will lessen tensions with Israel,” said Habib Malik, associate professor of history at Lebanese American University and the author of Between Damascus and Jerusalem: Lebanon and Middle East Peace.

“Although Aoun has increased seats in parliament, where he lost, he now has great difficulty in speaking on behalf of Christians,” Malik said.

Aoun’s showing can be viewed as a boost to dialogue among Lebanon’s politically fragmented Christians, according to another historian who served as superior general of the Maronite Lebanese Order.

“I’m glad that Aoun is still a leader,” said Fr. Paul Naaman, vice president of Holy Spirit University in Kaslik, Lebanon, pointing out that Aoun “is one of the best and most powerful Christian leaders, asking for all Christian rights.” But with this election, Naaman said, relations with the Iranian and Syrian axis have been cut.

“Now I think Aoun can’t pretend he’s the only Christian leader like before. Now he’s equal with other Christian leaders,” Naaman said.

Naaman said dialogue among Lebanon’s Christian leaders is now “more interesting” and he considers the country’s political landscape “a real democracy.”

“Now we can work on gathering Christian leaders together. We can ask them to put together a strategic plan for the Christians in the Middle East,” Naaman said.

Naaman noted that for the first time in 30 years, Christians turned out at polling places in significant numbers, about 55 to 60 per cent. In many districts voters had to wait in line for hours before casting ballots.

A Melkite Catholic bishop in southern Lebanon whose diocese is 90 per cent Muslim said the election outcome is positive for Lebanon’s international diplomacy.

“The results are opening Lebanon to the rest of the world and I think the world is quite happy with the results,” said Bishop Elie Haddad of Sidon. “It means we can have diplomatic relations with other countries more easily.”

Haddad, on the other hand, believes the results of the election confirm that Aoun is a major Christian leader and pointed out that the church “should treat him as a leader.”