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Power-players to watch in the Lebanese parliamentary elections

As Lebanon prepares for its first parliamentary elections in nine years Sunday, 3.6 million registered Lebanese voters are expected to cast their ballots. Thousands of Lebanese expats voted last week.

Here are several key power-players that could influence the country’s direction for years to come.

Future Movement

Future Movement Lebanon

Prime Minister Saad Hariri is the leader of the Lebanese Future Movement Party, founded in the 1990’s by his father, Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005.

Hariri, a Sunni Muslim politician, holds Saudi citizenship and is intensely critical of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group.

The Future Movement could be impacted by the new electoral law, which could fragment the Sunni vote and cost them key parliamentary seats.

Free Patriotic Movement

Free Patriotic Movement Lebanon

Founded by President Michel Aoun, this group has allied with Hezbollah since signing a memorandum of understanding in 2006.

The Free Patriotic Movement, which is mostly Maronite Catholic, currently has the second largest bloc in parliament.

The group is likely to gain significant support from Shi’ite Muslims who turn out.

Hezbollah

Hezbollah Lebanon

This Shi’ite Muslim group was founded in 1982 as a resistance movement to the Israeli occupation of parts of Lebanon. They are backed by Iran and Syria.

Parliamentary candidates are likely to turn out a large number of Shi’ite Muslim voters, and some Christians who supports its record of fighting Israel.

Hezbollah currently holds 12 seats in the Lebanese parliament, and is expected to keep close to the same number, analysts say.

Amal Movement

Amal Movement Lebanon

Amal, a Shi’ite Muslim group, was founded in the 1980’s by Imam Moussa al-Sadr, who went missing in Libya in the late 1970’s.

The group is led by Lebanon’s parliamentary speaker, Nabih Berri, who has held his position for 25 years.

Amal has a strong alliance with Syria, and runs jointly with other Lebanese Syrian-backed parties and Hezbollah.

Progressive Socialist Party

progressive socialist party lebanon

This group is the main political party of Lebanon’s Druze community, which makes up just 5 percent of the country’s population.

Druze politician Walid Jumblatt heads the group, and is stepping aside to make room for his son Taymour to take his seat.

The group has many candidates running in unity with the Future Movement and other Christian right-wing groups.

Lebanese Forces

Lebanese Forces Lebanon

The Lebanese Forces group is a right-wing Christian political party that is a harsh critic of Hezbollah and its rival, the mostly-Christian Free Patriotic Movement.

Former Christian warlord Samir Geagea leads the group.

Lebanese Forces is one of the most organized and strongest Christian groups int eh country, and is expected to win several seats in the parliamentary elections.

Civil Society

Flag of Lebanon

The Civil Society includes many non-traditional, independent candidates that are hoping to garner the support of young people and Lebanese citizens who disapprove of the current political system.

Many women, activists and independents are running in these elections.

They may not garner much support in this election because of the strength of the establishment political parties, but many of them are just fine with sharing their platforms for a better Lebanon.

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Political ads on a Lebanese talk show can cost up to $240,000!

As Lebanon gears up for its first parliamentary elections in 9 years, candidates are spending big money on their last-minute push to garner recognition and get people out to vote.

According to the AFP news agency, advertising on a single Lebanese talk show episode can cost up to $240,000. This includes a full episode where a candidate can present their plans and ideas.

An on-air interview can cost about $6,000 per minute, the AFP added.

Laury Haytayan, a parliamentary candidate in the Beirut I district, believes the high-cost of advertising gives political power-players an unfair advantage.

“The people who can pay $200,000 for advertising are those who are already in power,” Haytayan said. “The traditional parties remain control.”

See also: Historic number of female candidates running in the Lebanese election.

According to the Lebanese National News Agency, the parliamentary elections are already showing historic numbers. This will be the first time Lebanese citizens abroad will be eligible to vote.

The state-run agency said the number of registered voters is 82,970, with 12,609 living in the Middle East.

To see more on the AFP report on political advertising in Lebanon, click here.

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Record number of women running in Lebanese parliamentary elections

A total of 111 women are running for office in Lebanon’s parliamentary elections, according to the state-run Lebanese National News Agency. This is up from 12 from the last time nationwide elections were held back in 2009.

There are 976 total candidates running for 128 parliamentary seats.

Among the 111 female candidates are high-profile journalist Paula Yaacoubian, activist Nayla Geagea and lawyer Nadine Moussa.

female-candidates-lebanon

Many of the Lebanon’s youth hope that more female candidates and elected officials can ignite change in the Lebanese political system. Only three percent of Lebanon’s parliament is made up of women, NNA added.

The election is set for May 6, but early voting is already happening around the world. Lebanese citizens living in the Middle East, United States, Australia and Europe are scheduled to vote from April 27 to April 29.

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Lebanese penal law allows rapists to walk free

A controversial law protecting rapists in Lebanon is expected to be reconsidered in parliament this week. Article 522 in Lebanese penal law allows men who rape women to avoid prosecution if they marry their victims.

The law can also suspend any conviction for a person who has committed rape, kidnapping, or statutory rape. The only stipulation is marrying the victim.

In December, members of the Parliamentary Committee for Administration and Justice announced an agreement to repeal the law, but a decision has not been formally made. The law must go before the full Lebanese parliament for review.

“The current law allows for a second assault on a rape survivor’s rights in the name of ‘honor’ by trapping her in a marriage with her rapist,” said Rothna Begum, Middle East women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Protecting honor should be about ensuring that attackers are punished and promoting social attitudes that support survivors of sexual violence instead of stigmatizing them.”

The renewed push to repeal and reform this law is coming from Lebanese women’s rights groups, namely Abaad, a group that has invested thousands of dollars in advertising, public campaigns and billboards to end the law. They also created the hashtag #Undress522.

Ali Awada, advocacy manager for Abaad, told Public Radio International that the group’s public service campaigns are working.

“It worked at the policy level with different decision-makers,” says Awada. “After this series of lobbying meetings, we managed to get this draft law discussed inside the parliament with different political affiliates, and the final voting will be this week, with hopefully a ‘yes’ to abolish article 522.”

Awada points to tragic examples when similar laws have resulted in serious women’s rights violations.

In a widely publicized case, a Moroccan teen committed suicide in November 2013 after her family forced her to marry her rapist, according to Al Jazeera.

The suicide happened amid 2013 efforts to repeal Moroccan penal code Article 475, which also allows rapists who marry their victims to walk free.

 

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Saad Hariri named Lebanon’s new prime minister

(BEIRUT) – Lebanon’s two major parliamentary blocs on Tuesday named Saad Hariri, a former prime minister and a Sunni leader, as their candidate for premier in the government being formed after a new president was elected.

The widely expected endorsement by the Future bloc, led by Hariri, and the majority Christian bloc comes a day after Michel Aoun was elected president. Hariri was promised the post in exchange for backing Aoun’s presidential bid in parliament, ending a two-and-half-year deadlock that left Lebanon without a president.

Aoun is receiving the different parliamentary blocs Wednesday before naming the prime minister, likely before the weekend.

In the country’s sectarian-based political system, the prime minister, always a Sunni, is likely to face a daunting job, balancing different and often rival groups, to form a new Cabinet.

Gebran Bassil, who heads the Free Patriotic Movement of Aoun, said they back Hariri’s nomination for the premier post.

“We accept whoever accepts us. All our votes will go to Hariri because he recognized us and we will side with him in all the difficulties he will face,” Bassil told reporters.

Lebanon has been without a head of state since May 2014. According to the power sharing system governing Lebanese politics since the 1990s, the president must be a Maronite Christian.

Parliament failed in 45 different sessions to vote for a president, amid political infighting and boycotts, before Monday’s election of Aoun. Hariri’s about-face in support of Aoun last month broke the deadlock and changed the political landscape in Lebanon, bringing old-time foes on the same side, while allies differed.

Hariri, 46, served as prime minister briefly between late 2009 and 2011, when his government was brought down by powerful Lebanese Hezbollah group, now a major Aoun backer. He since left Lebanon, and was a vocal critic of Hezbollah. He returned earlier this year, sounding a more conciliatory tone.

Hariri is the son of late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated in February 2005 with massive bomb on a Beirut seaside street.

The U.N. Security Council welcomed Aoun’s election as “a long-awaited and critical step to overcome Lebanon’s political and institutional crisis.” It urged the new president to promote the country’s stability and swiftly form a unity government and elect a parliament by May 2017, saying these steps “are critical for Lebanon’s stability and resilience to withstand regional challenges.”

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington that Secretary of State John Kerry called both Hariri and Aoun to congratulate them and express, “our desire to see now that the Lebanese people have a chief executive, to see that Lebanon can move forward.”

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Lebanese politicians scuffle; turn electricity meeting into circus

(BEIRUT) — Rival Lebanese lawmakers turned an electricity committee meeting into a circus Monday as Mustaqbal Movement and Change and Reform MPs engaged in a shouting match accusing each other of corruption.

Ziad Aswad, from MP Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform Bloc, and Jamal Jarrah, from former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Future Bloc, nearly brawled on live television before being held back by their colleagues.

The scuffle began when Change and Reform MP Hikmat Deeb protested MP Mohammed Qabbani’s labeling of the Energy Ministry as “Ali Baba’s cave and the 40 advisors,” reported Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5).

This led to a verbal dispute between the lawmakers, triggering expletives and a loud shouting match for several minutes, before journalists and camera crews were asked to leave the room.

The meeting was later suspended and both parties went on the offensive, calling for news conferences to defend their actions.

“The scuffle was a result of historic accumulation of disputes at the committee,” Change and Reform MP Fadi al-Awar told LBCI after the meeting. “Officials and other figures, including Qabbani, who do not pay their electricity bills should be held accountable.”

Qabbani fired back, calling for future committee meetings to be open to the media and defending his party’s response.

“It is shameful to see such barbarism in communication at parliament,” Qabbani said. “I challenge any of those MPs to present any electricity bill that I have not paid.”

Qabbani explained the session was suspended because of the “shameful turn as shown on camera.”

WATCH the scuffle unfold:

 

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Garbage crisis proves Lebanese politics stinks

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — As if 14 months without a president wasn’t enough, Lebanon has turned into a giant trash mound since July 17, after political quarrels have halted trash collection.

The Lebanese cabinet has failed to agree on a solution for the country’s growing garbage crisis, postponing discussion until next week as trash continues to pile up on the streets.

Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk estimated the amount of trash to be at 22,000 tons — and growing.

“It’s like a domino,” Lucien Bourjeily, a social activist, told The National. “It’s one more thing on top of everything else in this country: No electricity, no water, no proper internet, no roads, corruption and…there’s no president and then you have the garbage.”

Sukleen, the main company in charge of collecting trash, stopped its work last week amid a dispute over the country’s largest trash dump.

The government is searching for alternatives to the Naame landfill south of Beirut, which was closed down on July 17. Naame residents have protested the landfill since it opened in 1997.

Earlier this year, the government agreed that the landfill would be shut down in July. But they never agreed on an alternative plan to handle the massive amounts of garbage produced by Beirut and surrounding areas.

The mountains of garbage have overtaken sidewalks and empty lots, causing traffic delays and strong odors in Beirut-area neighborhoods.

(Photo via George Kmeid)
(Photo via George Kmeid)

Protestors took to the streets of Downtown Beirut on Saturday, holding signs that read, “Clean up the trash in the parliament.”

“In Beirut, it’s only been four or five days of garbage and people already can’t take it. We have been dealing with Lebanon’s trash for the last 17 years,” said Youssef Halabi, a resident of Aramoun village near the landfill.

“We can’t open our windows because of the gases coming off the dump,” the 28-year-old told the AFP news agency. “I’ve invited ministers to come to my place and see if they can tolerate it.”

Instead of extending meetings until a decision is made, Lebanese officials decided to postpone any decision until next week, allowing for several more tons of trash to pile on Beirut’s streets.

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Lebanese MP reportedly punches female office worker

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — A Lebanese lawmaker reportedly punched an office employee in the neck after she refused to prioritize his court documents at the Baabda Judicial Palace on Monday.

MP Nicolas Fattoush visited the office of Manal Daou, an administrative assistant responsible for processing complaints by Lebanese attorneys. According to Beirut-based newspaper The Daily Star, Fattoush handed Daou his file and asked her to expedite it.

She reportedly informed Daou that she was already working on a previous file, and that he would have to wait a few minutes before she could help him.

Upset that he wasn’t given preferential treatment, the Zahle MP then notified Daou of his position in government and demanded she give his documents priority.

Witnesses say Fattoush explained he was a member of Parliament and used “insulting language” aimed at Daou. The situation allegedly escalated when Daou once again asked him to wait and responded, “Why are you talking to me like this, who are you?”

Witnesses told An-Nahar newspaper that Fattoush raised his voice and began to “punch her repeatedly in the throat.”

Daou’s coworkers and Fattoush’s bodyguard quickly intervened, according to sources.

Daou later filed a lawsuit against Fattoush through the office of the prosecutor. According to The Daily Star, Judge Claude Karam sat the two parties down to make up, after which Daou agreed to drop the lawsuit, sources said.

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Minister: Lebanon will postpone parliamentary poll to 2017

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Lebanon is set to postpone next month’s parliamentary elections to 2017 because of instability linked to the Syrian crisis, according to a government minister. This will be the second postponement of the elections, which should have taken place in June 2013.

The 128-member parliament will delay the elections for another two years and seven months from November because of the “deteriorating security situation in the country,” according to an interview with Reuters. He declined to be named because parliament has yet to officially vote on the postponement.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Wednesday he stands side-by-side with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri against holding parliamentary elections before a presidential vote.

“I refuse to hold parliamentary elections if a basic component in Lebanon reject it,” Berri said.

Lebanon’s interior minister and MPs have frequently said a new delay is inevitable. A postponement to 2017 would mean that the current parliament would serve two four-year terms in a row.

Lebanon has been without a president since May, when Michel Sleiman’s term ended, because feuding lawmakers have been unable to decide on a successor and have blamed each other for the deadlock.

Lawmakers, who support different sides in Syria’s civil war, are divided on many issues including on ways to deal with the effects of the crisis, which has driven around 1 million refugees into Lebanon.

 

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Lebanon struggles to address captive troops crisis

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Lebanon’s government is forming a crisis committee to handle the case of some two dozen members of the security forces held captive by Syrian militants amid escalating criticism over its response to the hostage affair.

Information Minister Ramzi Jreij said Thursday that Prime Minister Tammam Salam will head the committee, which will also include the defense, finance, interior, foreign and justice ministers.

Militants, including from the Islamic State extremist group, seized around 30 soldiers and policemen after overrunning a Lebanese border town in early August.

Some have since been released. Human Rights Watch says an estimated 14 policemen and 12 soldiers are still being held.

Relatives of the missing have rallied outside the government building in Beirut to demand action to secure the captives’ release.

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