BEIRUT: Now that official final results of the municipal elections in Beirut have shown that the Future Movement-backed candidate list has captured all the 24 seats of the capital’s municipality, attention has been shifted to the next round of voting in Mount Lebanon, where rival lists by key Christian parties are competing for the control of local councils. The hotly contested battles during Sunday’s municipal and mukhtar elections in Mount Lebanon are expected to take place in Jounieh, north of Beirut, where a list, named “Jounieh’s Dignity,” backed by the Free Patriotic Movement and the Kataeb Party, was announced Tuesday against an opposing ticket supported by the Lebanese Forces.

Similarly, in the town of Sin al-Fil in the eastern suburb of Beirut, the current mayor Nabil Kahaleh is facing competition from a rival list backed by the FPM and the LF.

Mount Lebanon Governor Fouad Fleifel chaired a meeting of the region’s security council to discuss measures and preparations for the municipal and mukhtar elections, the second in a four-stage voting after last Sunday’s peaceful polls in Beirut, the Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel district.

Speaker Nabih Berri said it is possible now to hold parliamentary elections following the successful municipal polls. He also said Parliament’s mandate, which has been extended twice in 2013 and 2014, can be shortened to elect a new legislative body.

“Following the holding of municipal elections, it is possible to conduct parliamentary elections and shorten Parliament’s term if an agreement is reached on a new electoral law,” Berri was quoted as saying by visitors at his Ain al-Tineh residence. “The key lies here [electoral law]. The initiative in this respect is in the hands of Parliament alone.”

Berri stressed that Parliament’s term will not be extended again no matter what happens. “We are facing two choices: Either reaching a modern electoral law based on proportional representation, or we will reach the Doha law which some call the 1960 law,” he said.

He was referring to the 1960s electoral law, used in the 2009 legislative polls, which is based on a winner-take-all system with constituencies based on the country’s administrative districts. The key Christian parties oppose this law on the grounds that it does not ensure true representation of the Christians in Parliament.

Berri, who chaired Monday a meeting of joint parliamentary committees examining a host of electoral draft laws, said the committees have four months to explore a new voting system. He said Parliament’s extended mandate expires in about 10 months during which the legislature enters a six-month recess period for the candidates’ election campaigns.

“Political life in Lebanon can be normalized not only with the election of a president, but also with drafting a modern electoral law,” Berri said.

He defended his proposal for a hybrid electoral law whereby half of Parliament’s 128 members would be elected on the basis of proportional representation and the other half would be elected on a winner-take-all system.“This law is fair to Muslims and Christians and allows the victory of centrist candidates within political factions,” Berri said.

Asked to comment on the results of municipal elections in Beirut, Berri said: “These results have shown the people’s reactions to an accumulation of corruption files, including the [eight-month] garbage crisis and the illegal Internet [operations], which have created a state of disgust among them.”

Meanwhile, senior officials from the Future Movement and Hezbollah praised the first stage of municipal elections in Beirut and the Bekaa Valley, according to a statement issued Tuesday night following a dialogue session.

“The participants expressed their satisfaction with the completion of the first stage of municipal elections. They stressed that these elections must take place [in other governorates] in the same positive atmosphere that prevailed in them,” the statement said.

The two sides also discussed the work of joint parliamentary committees concerning a new electoral law, stressing the “need to reach consensus on it at the earliest possible time.”

The parliamentary Future Movement bloc also hailed the municipal elections in Beirut and the Bekaa as “a victory for Lebanon and its democratic system and the principle of peaceful rotation of power.”

“The election results present the winning list, the Future Movement and the March 14 parties with big responsibility to be faithful to Beirutis and comply with their pledge to raise the level of services in the capital and address the environmental, health and construction problems from which the capital is suffering,” the bloc said in a statement after its weekly meeting.

The Beirutis’ List, supported by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, has swept the Beirut municipal elections despite a strong showing by a rival secular group, Beirut Madinati (Beirut My City), according to official final results released by the Interior Ministry Tuesday.

The official results showed that the Beirutis’ List, led by Jamal Itani, won about 15,000 votes more than Beirut Madinati.

Yusra Sidani, running with the Beirutis’ List, managed to garner the top score with 47,465 votes, compared to the 31,933 votes won by Ibrahim Mneimneh, who heads the Beirut Madinati list.

Elias Wadih Yahshoushi running with the Beirutis’ List received the lowest number of votes of 38,989 among the list’s 24 candidates.

Mneimneh later in the day admitted Beirut Madinati’s loss, but said the group would have gotten at least 10 seats in the municipal council if there was a proportional system in place. He warned the newly elected council against exploiting the city and dividing shares among its members.

“We restored hope to all the young people who struggled against the smell of garbage,” he added, promising to remain vigilant to any malpractices.

Mneimneh emphasized that the list had successfully challenged the current authority by earning 40 percent of votes, proving that people want change.

Hariri said in a speech Monday night that his list’s victory was a vote for Christian-Muslim parity as an irrevocable choice, and vowed to work with Beirut Madinati for the benefit of the city.

The Beirutis’ List is backed by the Future Movement and key Christian and Muslim parties, including the Kataeb, the FPM, the LF, the Amal Movement and the Progressive Socialist Party.

Beirut Madinati includes civil society members, artists and businessmen, and was formed with the hopes of challenging the political establishment.