BEIRUT (AFP) -- Lebanon will hold parliamentary elections on June 7, the interior ministry announced on Monday.

"The ministry of interior announces the promulgation of a decree calling on voters to elect legislators," a statement said.

It added that the vote will take place on Sunday June 7, rather than being held on separate days for different regions, as has been the case in previous elections.

The election is considered important as it could well see Hezbollah and its allies win a majority of the seats in parliament.

Such an outcome would deal a major blow to the Western-backed parties which won a majority in the last elections in 2005 on the back of a wave of anti-Syrian sentiment following the assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.

Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, has veto power over major decisions in the current national unity government formed in July following a political crisis that brought Lebanon to the brink of civil war.

The crisis was defused following a Qatari-brokered deal in May that led to the election of army commander Michel Sleiman as president, the formation of a national unity government and a new electoral law being drawn up.