Western and Arab media are full of accounts that Hezbollah suffered a major setback in the Lebanese general election on 15 May. However, there is no black and white verdict yet, with multiple nuances in assessing the results and their implications for Lebanese politics. Firstly, Hezbollah and the Amal movement won all 28 seats allocated to the Shia community and the two setbacks they suffered in the third district of south Lebanon were for non-Shia candidates. Hezbollah’s candidates are also represented in four out of five provinces in Lebanon, and they are the only party that has allies and c…