DIKWANEH, Lebanon (Reuters) - Outside a polling station in the Lebanese Metn district, supporters of rival Christian groups camp out amicably under umbrellas urging voters to cast ballots in a parliamentary election on Sunday.

But ask Christian voters what will happen if the party they support loses, and the answers are instantly less friendly, with both sides accusing each other of dragging the country toward a bleak future.

Most of the 3.2 million Lebanese eligible to vote in Sunday’s election cast their ballots based on sectarian affiliations.

Sunnis are voting overwhelmingly for Saad al-Hariri’s pro-Western alliance, Shi’ites for Syrian and Iranian-backed Hezbollah, but the mainly Maronite Christians are divided between the two camps, making them the key voters in this closely contested election.

Leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, Michel Aoun, who has the largest Christian parliamentary bloc, has sided with Hezbollah while his opponents from the Lebanese Forces and Phalange parties support Hariri.

“There is no division in the Christian vote. Eighty percent ... support (Aoun), and the remaining 20 percent are in the minority,” said Aoun-supporter Rana, 27. “In the end, they’ll just come running back to us.”

While campaigners from both Christian camps tried to portray their side as the winner, it was far from clear which would come out on top as opinion polls are banned in Lebanon until after voting has finished.

Hezbollah and its allies, or the “March 8” alliance, are trying to erase a slender majority held by Hariri’s anti-Syrian “March 14” coalition. No side is expected to win by a large margin and a national unity government is expected.

WEAPONS, IRAN DIVISIVE ISSUES

Aoun’s critics say Hezbollah’s weaponry, which is much more sophisticated than the army’s, serve to undermine the state.

But the group and its allies see the weapons as a necessary defense against Israel and say the best way to deal with Hezbollah is by engagement, not isolation and confrontation.

“I am voting against the opposition and Hezbollah and terrorism. Let him (Aoun) go with Syria and Iran,” said employee Elie Abu Aboud, 27. “If they lose, they will create trouble.”

Expectations that there will be trouble are worrying particularly since the country was pushed last year to the brink of civil war after Hezbollah and its allies took over parts of Sunni western Beirut and routed Hariri’s supporters.

Party supporters are out in force in the divided Christian districts. Eight seats are up for grabs in Metn, which the anti-Syrian coalition won in the last elections in 2005.

The streets of Metn neighborhoods Dikwaneh, Bourj Hammoud and Sin el-Fil are lined with party supporters wearing the rival orange and blue shirts; handing out caps and scarves, helping elderly voters into the polling station and urging those waiting in the exceedingly long queues to be patient.

“We, the Lebanese Forces, are urging everyone to vote, to save this country that needs to be saved. The atmosphere is charged, there’s a possibility that once the election is over, there will be trouble,” said Jean Geagea, 35, who wore a white shirt with a green cedar tree, the party’s logo.

But one man who had just voted for the Hezbollah-led alliance, said Christians had nothing to fear from Hezbollah.

“Aoun loves his country, the other side are only looking for their personal gain. Hezbollah is not against the Lebanese, they are only against the Israeli enemy.”