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“Coming, as these elections do, in the immediate aftermath of Obama’s conciliatory Cairo speech, they seem to signify a cooling off of the recent tensions between the United States and the Muslim world. I don’t think this is a coincidence.”
IMHO A bit of wishful thinking BooMan.
BEIRUT, Lebanon — It is election season in Lebanon, and Hussein H., a jobless 24-year-old from south Beirut, is looking forward to selling his vote to the highest bidder.
“Whoever pays the most will get my vote,” he said. “I won’t accept less than $800.”
[Hariri ally] Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region are arming their allies here with campaign money in place of weapons. One adviser to the Saudi government, who added that the Saudi contribution was likely to reach hundreds of millions of dollars in a country of only four million people, said:
- “We are putting a lot into this. We’re supporting candidates running against Hezbollah, and we’re going to make Iran feel the pressure.”
Despite the vast amounts being spent, many Lebanese see the race — which pits Hezbollah and its allies against a fractious coalition of more West-friendly political groups — as almost irrelevant. Lebanon’s sectarian political structure virtually guarantees a continuation of the current “national unity” government, in which the winning coalition in the 128-seat Parliament grants the loser veto powers to preserve civil peace.
Currently, political parties or coalitions usually print up their own distinctive ballots and hand them to voters before they walk into the booth, making it easier to be sure they are getting the votes they have paid for.
Some voters, especially in competitive districts, receive cold calls offering cash for their vote. But mostly the political machines work through local patriarchs known as “electoral keys,” who can deliver the votes of an entire clan in exchange for money or services — scholarships, a hospital, repaved roads and so on.
Because each seat in the Lebanese Parliament is designated by religious sect, the elections tend to reinforce the essentially feudal power structure of Lebanon, with a network of men from known families providing for each sect and region.
Christian supporters of Michel Aoun said that the alliance with Mr. Hariri and his Saudi-backed March 14 group was more dangerous to Christians. “What am I going to tell you, Hezbollah is a party defending Lebanon,” said George Anid. “The Shia have simple hearts like us and they will protect us.”
From wikipedia:
On March 14, 1989, after a Syrian attack on the Baabda presidential palace and on the Lebanese Ministry of Defense in Yarze, Aoun declared Liberation war against the Syrian army which was better armed than the Lebanese forces (some 40,000 Syrian troops were in Lebanon at the time). The Syrians were supported by the US government led by George H. Bush in exchange for their support against Saddam Hussein.[5] Over the next few months Aoun’s army and the Syrians exchanged artillery fire in Beirut until only 100,000 people remained from the original 1 million, the rest fled the area.[5] During this period Aoun became critical of American support for Syria and moved closer to Iraq, accepting arms supplies from Saddam Hussein.
The end approached for Aoun when his Iraqi ally, Saddam Hussein, launched his invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. Syria’s President Hafez al-Assad sided with the United States. In return, the United States agreed to support Syria’s interests in Lebanon. On October 13, with American permission, Syrian forces attacked the presidential palace in Baabda, where Aoun was holed up. Not very long after the attacks, Aoun was asked to leave Lebanon with the full support of the French Ambassador, there he surrendered to Syrians via a radio address, leaving his troops at the mercy of the Syrian forces. Ten months later Aoun went into exile in France, where he led a political party, the Free Patriotic Movement.
It is ridiculous how Mrs. Clinton went on the warpath today against Iran and promised her (the U.S.) nuclear umbrella to Israel as if Iran could ever attack Israel in a way that might warrant nuclear retaliation. She’s about as subtle as a ton of bricks. This all brings back memories of her wretched behavior during the campaign. You see, she (oh!, the U.S.) won the election in Lebanon and now Iran has (she thinks) lost influence. So it’s time to make the Iranians so afraid (of her and Israel) and conciliatory (towards Israel and her or is it the U.S.) that they’ll vote out Ahmadinejad and vote in her (or is it the U.S. or maybe Israel). Does Mr. O. have her on a leash. I don’t think so. Anyway, North Korea is so twentieth century now that it has nuclear toys. Israel has them too, shhhhh! No one knows. You see, if Iran gets a nuclear weapon it might trigger a nuclear arms race which Israel will never be able to sustain. Shhhhh! Gold Meir’s whispering in Richard Nixon’s said ‘It’s the biggest public secret in the world that we have nuclear weapons and the U.S. will keep that secret for eternity because the U.S. is in Israel’s pocket.’ Poor Dick, he misunderstood. Mrs. Clinton hasn’t.
If anyone thinks this election outcome is a victory by pro-western forces they should check out this bin-ladenite MP elected on the Hariri ticket: Khalid Daher
The underrepresentation of the Shia community compared to their proportaion of population and converse overrepresentation of Christians and Sunnis should also be pointed out. Throw in a bit of Saudi vote buying and free flights and it isnt hard to say it is nigh on impossible for the opposition to win without the sunni bloc falling apart or the christians voting en-masse for them both of which are unlikely. However, with a more democratic electroal process based on OMOV it would become almost impossible for the Hariri bloc to win.
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“We accept the official results with sportsmanship and in a democratic way,” Nasrallah said in a televised address, a day after elections.
“The resistance choice is not a choice of an armed group, but a popular choice proved in recent elections,” Nasrallah said, pointing to a difference between a “parliamentary majority” and a “popular majority.”
Nasrallah stressed that the choice of a strong state is also the choice of the resistance.
“We are facing all level challenges, the cooperation by all parties is needed and this is related to the will of the other political groups.”
He congratulated his political rivals. “I would like to congratulate all those who won, those in the majority and those in the opposition.”
“We accept the fact that the competition won a majority while the opposition retained its presence in parliament,” Nasrallah said.
File Oct. 27, 2008 – Nasrallah meets Hariri secretly on Lebanon unity
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."using Mr. Burns’ voice from The Simpsons:
Excellent…
seriously, thanks for posting this, Oui… as it pretty much lets the hot air out of all of the talk here, and over at the Orange site, regarding the “Obama effect” regarding this election.
the outright purchase of votes by the oil-rich Saudis is a “perfect” example of great mideast policy– after all, it’s more or less the exact same thing we have done (actually, learned to do) in Iraq after the military hammer began to fail there.
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Of course I got banned thrice over and beyond at orange. A blog that’s so busy … one can hardly medidate or sit in a quiet corner.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.".
Zahle was expected to go to March 8 (and FPM) but instead it was announced that all seven seats went to March 14.
Zahle a small but central town in the Bekka is becoming a center piece in the battle between March 14 and March 8 . The district of Zahle holds seven seats (two Greek Catholic, one Sunni, one Shia, one Greek Othordox, one Armenian Orthodox and a Maronite seat). The Greek Catholic dominate Zahle and what is making Zahle so interesting is that some of the population are finding it difficult to reconcile politics with tradition.
Now Lebanon – Latest Nieuws
≈ Posted earlier in Guthman’s diary —
Lebanese Election results: Hezbollah bloc sweeps popular vote ≈
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Obama won the election in Lebanon – YAAAAAAAAAY! Go Obama!