BEIRUT, June 8: Official results issued by the Interior Ministry on Monday confirmed that the March 14 Forces won 71 seats against 57 seats for the opposition forces, maintaining a ratio of 55-45%. This ratio does not reflect the popular vote.

Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud announced the official poll results in a press conference held at the ministry on Monday.

Winners included MPs Michel Aoun, Farid Elias Khazen, Youssef Khalil, Neamatallah Abi Nasser and Gilbert Zwein in the Kesrouan district, where the voter turnout reached 70 percent.

MPs Strida Geagea and Elie Keyrouz won in the Bcharre district, where the voter turnout reached 37 percent.

MPs Ali Hassan Khalil, Ali Fayyad, Assaad Hardane, Anwar Khalil, Qassem Hashem won in the Marjayoun-Hasbaya district, with a 46 percent voter turnout.

MPs Abed al-Majid Saleh, Mohammad Fneish, Nawwaf Mussawi and Ali Khreis won in the Tyre district, where voter turnout was 48 percent.

Education Minister Bahia Hariri and Premier Fouad Siniora won in Sidon with voter turnout as high as 68 percent.

MPs Boutros Harb and Antoine Zahra won in Batroun, where voter turnout reached 56 percent.

Speaker Nabih Berri and MPs Ali Osseiran and Michel Moussa won in the Zahrani district, and voter turnout reached 54 percent.

MPs Walid Khoury, Simon Abi Ramia and Abbas Hashem won in the Jbeil district, where voter turnout was 65 percent.

Deputy Speaker Farid Makari and MPs Farid Habib and Nicolas Ghosn won in the Koura district, where voter turnout was 47 percent.

MPs Sleiman Franjieh, Salim Karam and Stephan Douaihy won in the Zgharta district, with the voter turnout reaching 48 percent.

MPs Akram Chehayeb, Talal Arslan, Henri Helou, Fouad Saad and Fadi Haber won in the Aley district, where voter turnout was 54 percent.

MPs Walid Jumblatt, Marwan Hamadeh, Dori Chamoun, Elie Aoun, George Adwan, Nehmeh Tohmeh, Alaaeddine Terro and Mohammad Hajjar won in the Chouf district, where voter turnout was 50 percent.

MPs Saad Hariri, Tammam Salam, Mohammad Qabbani, Ammar Houri, Imad Hout, Atef Majdalani, Ghazi Aridi, Bassem al-Shab, Ghazi Youssef and Nabil de Freige won in the Beirut III district.

MPs Sami Gemayel, Ibrahim Kanaan, Nabil Nicolas, Salim Salhab, Michel Murr, Ghassan Moukheiber, Hagop Pakradounian and Edgard Maalouf won in the Metn district, where voter turnout reached 56 percent.

MPs Nadim Gemayel, Nayla Tueni, Michel Pharaon, Serge Torsarkissian and Jean Ogassapian won in the Beirut I district, with a 40 percent voter turnout.

MPs Mohammad Safadi, Najib Mikati, Mohammad Kabbara, Samir Jisr, Ahmad Karami,

Samer Saadeh, Bader Wannous and Robert Fadel won in the Tripoli district, as voter turnout was 45 percent.

Also on Monday, Berri praised the "patriotic stances" shown by Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri and Democratic Gathering bloc leader MP Walid Jumblatt following the announcement of the election results in several districts on Sunday night.

Berri said in a statement that Hariri and Jumblatt showed their "keenness on promoting partnership" and called on the Lebanese to strengthen national unity.

The speaker voiced hope that the Parliament would ratify a new electoral law based on the proportional system, adding that "Lebanon defeated all attempts to instigate sedition and chaos."

Berri called for the full implementation of the Taif Accord.

"Lebanon now has two strong points: democracy and Resistance," Berri said.

He also said all parties shouldered their national responsibility and showed that they aimed to adopt democracy as their political approach. He also voiced hope that tensions would be reduced following the June 7 elections.

Berri praised Baroud, the Lebanese security forces, the Lebanese Army, media outlets and the judiciary for "making the elections a success."

Obama congratulates Lebanese on vote

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama congratulated the Lebanese people for a peaceful national election held with "courage" and a "commitment to democracy."

"Once more, the people of Lebanon have demonstrated to the world their courage and the strength of their commitment to democracy," the president's statement said.