Beirut, Lebanon ? Candidates loyal to Lebanon’s assassinated former premier have posted giant campaign billboards bearing his picture, hoping a wave of sympathy will bring them to power in Lebanon’s first elections in decades that are free from Syrian domination.

Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s son and political successor will likely be the main benefactor of the vote in four-stage elections beginning today. Hariri’s killing, which sparked mass protests that ultimately forced Syria to withdraw from Lebanon, appears to be the driving force in the vote.

But surprisingly, the legacy of Syria’s 29-year military and political control of its smaller neighbor has not shaped up to be a major campaign issue. Syrian troops are gone, and it seems they were quickly forgotten.

Groups united in the vocal opposition to Syrian control after Hariri’s killing in February are widely expected to win a majority in the next Parliament. Syria was accused by the opposition of having a hand in the assassination, a charge Damascus has denied.

Lebanon’s long-awaited legislative elections – which begin today in Beirut and in other regions over the following three Sundays – are seen as a chance to seal the end of Syria’s political dominance after the last of its forces left in April.

A Lebanese civil servant carrying a ballot box walks in front of posters Saturday showing slain former Premier Rafik Hariri and his son Saad, as he proceeds to set up a voting station in Beirut. Saad Hariri is expected to sweep the 19 parliamentary seats allocated to Beirut in Lebanon's election, which starts today and will be held on four consecutive Sundays.

Interior Minister Hassan Sabei promised “free and fair elections with complete neutrality by the state.”

Hariri loyalists are determined to carry out his agenda of opposing extremism and rebuilding the country. They also want to ensure a thorough investigation of his killing.

The former prime minister’s son, 35-year-old Saad Hariri, is leading a 19-member list of candidates named after his father in Beirut’s three districts.

In urging Beirut’s more than 400,000 eligible voters to turn out to show loyalty to his father, Saad Hariri billed the Beirut election as “the day of safeguarding Rafik Hariri’s course (and) Rafik Hariri’s blood.”

Nine of his candidates have won uncontested seats and 10 others, including Saad Hariri, are competing for the remaining 10 seats in the capital. The competition is so lopsided that people are being urged to vote anyway if only to show Hariri’s numerical dominance.

The election will be the first without foreign forces since the pre-civil war Parliament was elected in 1972, three years before the 15-year conflict erupted.