Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah movement expects its allies to win more seats in a parliamentary election in May but does not expect any fundamental change in the balance of power in the government, the group's deputy leader said on Thursday.
The May 6 election looks set to deepen the strong political influence already wielded in Lebanon by the heavily armed group, which is backed by Iran and listed as a terrorist organization by the United States.
Lebanon's first parliamentary vote since 2009 will be held according to a new law that is widely expected to yield fewer seats for the Future Movement led by Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, Lebanon's leading Sunni.
"Our ambition from these elections is not to increase the number of Hezbollah MPs. Our ambition is for there to be broader representation for our allies from different groups, sects and parties," Sheikh Naim Qassem told Reuters in an interview.
"This law will certainly increase the number of MPs of Hezbollah's allies," he said.
Qassem did not say how many seats he expected Hezbollah and its allies to win in parliament, where the 128 seats are divided among Lebanon's 17 officially recognized religious groups according to a strict quota.
"The change in the shape of the government and the way it is formed will be limited, but certainly it will be subjected to wider accountability by MPs because of the variety that will be in parliament," he said.