Lebanon's 2019 protests have brought in several political changes, including political newcomers who managed to break older sectarian-based politicians’ hold on parliamentary seats they've long dominated. The image, of a participant in the protests, was captured by Freimut Bahlo, is downloaded by Wikimedia Commons and used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International. On May 15, 2022, Lebanese voters cast their ballots in the first parliamentary elections to be held in the country since the Beirut blast leveled the eastern half of the capital in August of 2020. Since then, a nation mired in an economic crisis the World Bank has described as one of the world's “most severe crises episodes globally since the mid-nineteenth century” has sought constructive means of ending its political and economic stalemate. Defying expectations, voters enabled political newcomers associated with the October 17 uprising, which rocked the country at the start of its economic crisis in 2019, to nab a historic 13 seats from Lebanon’s traditional sect-based parties. Many regard the victory as a seismic shift in the politics of a country long dominated by a clique of corrupt sectarian elites—a loosening of sectarian politicians’ hold on Lebanese voters amid mass disillusionment with Lebanon’s sect-based political order. “Elections are over. Detailed results are quite informative & show the potential of an organized, non-sectarian alternative in Lebanon. Our votes are spread homogeneously across regions & sects. Given how sectarian our society still is, this is an achievement by itself.”@MichelHe pic.twitter.com/agkYNqCosj — Karim Emile Bitar (@karimbitar) June 2, 2022 Opposition candidates broke through in a number of sectarian bastions. This is the kind of intimidation non-sectarian reformist political parties trying to campaign in the parliamentary elections face in Lebanon. Candidates from Beirut Takawum got yelled at and intimidated by a group of pro-Hariri men when trying to distribute fliers in Tarik Jdideh pic.twitter.com/wCSy0jhvkX — Sunniva Rose (@Sunniva_Rose) March 19, 2022 In Aley, a picturesque mountain district southeast of Beirut, voters from Lebanon’s Druze minority unseated long-time politician Prince Talal Arslan, electing reform-minded political newcomer Marc Daou in his place and ending one of the oldest feudal dynasties on Mount Lebanon. #BREAKING: Longtime Hezbollah-backed MP Talal Arslan loses seat in Aley to opposition list, Hezbollah official and newcomers’ campaign manager tell @Reuters. The list, “We United For Change,” won *3 seats* in total in a major breakthrough for independents, campaign manager said. — Timour Azhari (@timourazhari) May 16, 2022 The Arslans, who claim descent from the Lakhmid kings of ancient Iraq, were heavily involved in the politics of Mount Lebanon from the 1800s through the modern era. Prince Talal Arslan’s father, Prince Majid Arslan, played an important role in the tiny Mediterranean country’s independence from France in 1943, and was a fixture in the Lebanese parliament of the post-independence era, holding the Druze seat in Aley district from 1931 until his death in 1983. “I wouldn’t say Marc Daou ousted the Arslans,” Makram Rabah, an author and lecturer in the Department of History at the American University of Beirut, told Global Voices. “The Arslans ousted themselves, for a number of reasons. First, Prince Talal Arslan failed to understand that many Druzes were no longer under the sway of traditional political parties post-October 17. The younger generation especially chose to take a stand, and even the older generations joined the kids in voting for change. “Second, Prince Arslan was completely oblivious to the fact that by aligning himself so openly with Hezbollah, he was alienating and antagonizing the Druze electorate in Mount Lebanon, which back in May 7, 2008, took a fierce stand against the militant Islamist group’s invasion of its towns and villages”. In parliament's first session today, @DaouMark, one of Lebanon's 13 independent MPs, went in with a poster showing the faces of the Beirut port blast victims. Independents MPs marched from port to parliament — a symbolic move to demand justice for the victims. pic.twitter.com/1iDResQOMg — Aya Iskandarani (@Aya_Isk) May 31, 2022 Bilal, a native of the Druze city of Choueifat who asked not to be called by his real name for security reasons, concurs. “In addition to his political alliances, which many people found alienating, and his feudal title, which many people found outdated, Prince Talal Arslan failed to provide any reason for his constituents in Choueifat and elsewhere in Aley district to vote to re-elect him.” But not everyone agrees with this assessment.