Tens of thousands of Lebanese voted on Sunday to choose successors to two assassinated anti-Syrian lawmakers in the latest showdown between the Western-backed government and its opponents.

The byelection to fill the Maronite Christian seat left empty after Pierre Gemayel was killed in November has shaped up as a test of strength between the two camps weeks before parliament is due to elect a Maronite as Lebanon's new president.

A 9-month-old political struggle has already caused the worst civil strife since the 1975-1990 war, and some feared a fresh outbreak of violence during voting.

But no incidents were reported at polling stations in the Christian heartland, where turnout was reported to be healthy. Thousands of Lebanese troops and police tightened security in the area, where flags and posters of the rival parties adorned balconies, electricity poles and cars.

Father contests

Former president Amin Gemayel, Pierre’s father and leader of the Phalange Party, and a candidate from the Free Patriotic Movement of opposition leader Michel Aoun are contesting the Maronite seat in the Metn district northeast of Beirut.

Gemayel is a key player in the anti-Syrian majority coalition, which is supported by the United States, France and Saudi Arabia. Aoun is the main Christian leader in the opposition, which includes Hezbollah, an ally of Syria and Iran. 

By contrast, the by-election for a Sunni Muslim seat in a Beirut district to chose a successor to Walid Eido, who was assassinated in a car bomb attack in June, was a low-key affair.