Lebanon’s former president Amin Gemayel lost the by-elections held in Beirut’s Metn area after opposition candidate Camille Khoury received the support of most voters during Sunday’s round.

In the other suffrage, pro-government candidate Mohamad Amin Itani had a clear path towards the chair left vacant by Walid Eido. He was killed by a car bomb along with his son and seven other people in June.

Gemayel fought to follow his son Pierre in office, but he was surpassed by the politician representing the Free Patriotic Movement led by General Michel Aoun. Thus, the opposition got hold of one more chair in the anti-Syrian government after Pierre Gemayel was assassinated last year by presumed supporters of Damascus, allegations vehemently denied by Syria.

The voting’s outcome outlines a gap that is cracking wider as time passes between Christians in Lebanon, different opinions that accentuate the political crisis and would certainly represent a challenge in the upcoming presidential elections.

In Lebanon, the leader is elected by the parliament and the race is about to start for the nation’s top seat. Current president Emile Lahoud will be replaced until November 25, but the fight between opposition members and the ruling majority announces to be fierce.

The anti-Syrian majority has the necessary seats to elect a new president, but it depends on opposition members to participate and not boycott the elections.

It seems Aoun’s popularity took a serious blow after Hezbollah began supporting him, but the recent elections results tend to prove the contrary even if his party’s victory was obtained by a slim margin.