Parliamentary Polls Open in Lebanon

Washington Post ^ | May 29, 2005 | By Sam F. Ghattas

[dervish]

Lebanon's first parliamentary polls without heavy-handed Syrian meddling began Sunday, and loyalty to the former premier whose assassination catalyzed the political turmoil that drove Syrian forces out was displayed at the capital's ballot boxes.

‘snip’

Many observers expect voters will sweep the anti-Syrian opposition to power and install a new parliament, removing the last of Syria's political control. Syrian forces withdrew in April, ending a 29-year military dominance, after mass demonstrations in Lebanon and relentless international pressure sparked by the February assassination.

This is the first election where Syrian or Lebanese intelligence agents or their allies do not appear to be weighing in on the voters' choices.

"There is no pressure," said Mohieddine Badran, a 57-year-old barber who said he voted for the Hariri ticket because "they are clean guys" who will carry out the slain leader's program.

'snip'

In Beirut, seats are allocated according to Lebanon's power-sharing political system to six Sunni Muslims, three Armenian Orthodox, two Greek Orthodox, two Shiite Muslims, one Druse, one Maronite Catholic, one Armenian Catholic, one Greek Catholic, one Protestant and one for minorities.

[dervish]

more from Reuters

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The bloc of candidates led by the son of slain Rafik al-Hariri claimed a clean sweep of Beirut seats in Lebanon's parliamentary elections on Sunday. "The list of the martyr Hariri has won all the seats in today's election," an aide to Saad al-Hariri said.

Hariri's bloc had already won nine of the capital's 19 seats in the 128-member parliament before the vote because they were not contested.

The aide said candidates on Hariri's list, including one from the Shi'ite Muslim Hizbollah movement, had taken all 10 undecided seats in Beirut, the first region where Lebanon's phased elections took place.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=8635506

[USAfearsnobody]

This will be huge. The first democratic election in the ME that is not under any sort of military rule or occupation.

This will make everyone else around there jealious.

[the anti-liberal]

"I have high hopes today that we will uncover the truth of who planned and carried out the crime against my beloved husband, who in life built this country and in his martyrdom achieved national unity," Nazek Hariri told reporters after casting her ballot at a polling station before heading to pray at her slain husband's grave.

Without Syrian control in the region, perhaps an unimpeded investigation will actually be possible. I find it amazing that we still don't know who is responsible for his assassination.

[USAfearsnobody]

Either reckless Syrian intelligence or that Israeli conspiracy theory. Either way, this is for the better.


I still think Syria is trying to influence this election, like Russia tried in Ukraine.

[dervish]

Ping!

[dervish]

Lebanon used to be very tolerant, cosmopolitan and beautiful before the Arafat crew and then Syrian-Iran-Hezbollah axis took over.

[the anti-liberal]

I still think Syria is trying to influence this election, like Russia tried in Ukraine.

I agree. They're not going to religuish any power or influence they don't have to:

overt influence- out
covert influence- in

[USAfearsnobody]

Lebanon used to be very tolerant, cosmopolitan and beautiful before the Arafat crew and then Syrian-Iran-Hezbollah axis took over.

Really? I never would have known it... It seems like a real hell-hole to me. No wonder they still know how to protest.

[USAfearsnobody]

They do have some overseers though. Not sure how much that will help root out the Syrian influence but we will find out what happened depending on who comes out on top. If its the Harris, then we've won... hopefully.

[NYer]

Reuters - Sun May 29, 3:49 PM ET

Nazek al-Hariri (L), widow of slain former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, celebrates with her son Saad al-Hariri (R) in their mansion in Beirut May 29, 2005. Candidates led by the son of slain ex-premier Rafik al-Hariri won all the seats in Beirut in Lebanon's general election on Sunday, a government source said. REUTERS/ Adnan Hajj

Reuters - Sun May 29, 4:08 PM ET

Lebanese people watch fireworks when celebrating for Saad al-Hariri, the son of slain former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, in central Beirut May 29, 2005. Saad al-Hariri headed for victory in Beirut polls on Sunday, but voters denied him the high turnout he sought in Lebanon's first parliamentary election in three decades with no Syrian troops in the country. REUTERS/ Adnan Hajj

[EGPWS]

Many observers expect voters will sweep the anti-Syrian opposition to power and install a new parliament, removing the last of Syria's political control.

Thanks to all who may have had a part in this coming about.

The USA and it's armed forces lead by GWB come to mind.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks for the ping, and well said (msg 6).

[Red Sea Swimmer]

Good luck to the good people of Lebanon !

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

[Patrick_k]

washingtonpost.com
Lebanese Seek To Map a Future Mired in Past
Sectarian Differences Begin to Surface Again

By Anthony Shadid
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, May 29, 2005; A01

BEIRUT, May 28 -- It was a little after 9 a.m. Saturday when Walid Jumblatt awoke to the gaggle already gathered at his idyllic mountain redoubt of Mokhtara. There were supplicants and well-wishers, admirers and job seekers. As he passed, in his trademark jeans, they hushed. As he took his seat in a stone-walled salon, they lined up for an audience.

In Lebanon, Jumblatt, a lanky man with an ironic streak, is many things. He is a statesman renowned for his ever-mercurial politics, a militia chief during Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war, unquestioned leader of the tiny Druze Muslim community, the scion of its most storied family. To those in Mokhtara, he is Walid Bek, a feudal title inherited from the Ottoman Empire and a symbol of his stature......

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/28/AR2005052801170_pf.html

[dervish]

Thanks for this although as per usual the Wash Post cannot contian its negativity. We will see.

Here's a different look fron an old time Lebanon watcher, Fouad Ajami.

from page 2:

"A quiet rebellion was gathering steam. The revered Maronite patriarch, Cardinal Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, launched a brave campaign for the restoration of Lebanon's sovereignty. Lebanon had always been, at its heart, a "Christian homeland." With the sanctity and protection given him by his standing in Lebanon and the Catholic world, Sfeir emerged as the standard-bearer of the country's sovereignty. Hereditary Druze leader Walid Jumblat, who had accommodated Syrian power for a quarter century, also drifted into the opposition."

from page 4:

A truly sovereign Lebanese government could have brought Hezbollah to heel. But Syria's writ made it impossible for the Lebanese army to deploy to the south, the frontier with Israel; Hezbollah lived on the indulgence granted by its status as an Islamic "resistance movement" and could ride roughshod over the authority of any incumbent government.

In truth, however, the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon robbed the militia of its raison d'être. True, a pretext was found for Hezbollah to retain its weapons: in the aftermath of the withdrawal, the group made a new claim on a small strip of land still in Israel's possession called Shebaa Farms. But the cause of Shebaa Farms is a sham, and everyone apart from the most diehard of Hezbollah operatives knows it: the underdeveloped land is actually subject to negotiations between Damascus and Jerusalem, for Syrian forces had possession of it when it fell under Israel's control in 1967. No great emotions stir in Lebanon about that largely barren territory.

Strictly speaking, Hezbollah does not need the "holy war" and is already participating in the confessional politics of Lebanon, on behalf of the poorer Shiites. The Party of God fields candidates for Lebanon's parliament, runs a television station, and funds a whole host of economic endeavors. Hitherto, U.S. diplomacy has paid Hezbollah only fitful attention. U.S. officials could turn up in Damascus, but no satisfaction could be had there. In the words of the articulate Lebanese publisher Gebran Tuéni, the Syrians ruled Lebanon by "remote control" and would never own up to their power over Hezbollah's operatives. Why would Syria clip Hezbollah's wings? The organization was Syria's trump card in Lebanon and on the border with Israel. Iran provides Hezbollah with money; Syria's gift has been protection. But the logic of the Bush administration's war on terror is one of pre-emption, of refusing to wait on gathering dangers, so Hezbollah has long been destined to be a legitimate U.S. concern.

Hezbollah's independent power should not be overestimated. A Lebanese army free to assert its authority would easily subdue it. That army would have on its side the bulk of a Shia community averse to hurling itself and its villages into another destructive war on the Lebanese-Israeli border. A viable political center revolves around the authority of the Maronite patriarch, the prestige and power of the Druze leader Jumblat, and the technocrats who were associated with Hariri, mainly Sunni Muslims who have shed their acquiescence to join the anti-Syrian coalition. The Shiites have appeared uncertain in the midst of this tumult, but they are nationalists and will not want to be left out of the making of a new political order. They will not want to end up on the side of a despised Syrian regime.

Hezbollah can bring its supporters to the street, it is true. The Party of God is full of forebodings about its future. But its public displays of "gratitude" to Syria for its presence in Lebanon cannot provide the basis of a successful political strategy. Underneath the sound and fury of Hezbollah, there are hard calculations of power. Hezbollah's leaders must have a feel for the sentiment of the Shia mainstream: it was Lebanese flags, rather than the banners of their party, that they brought to the mass rally in Beirut on March 8. There was a moment of silence at that rally for Hariri, and a message to the opposition that Hezbollah wants a share of the country's power. A vast Shia propertied class, with a tenuous hold on prosperity, has come into its own over the preceding quarter century. That Shia mainstream will give Hezbollah time but will not want to bear the stigma of supplication to Damascus. The call of home and patriotism will in the end bring the Shiites into the emerging national consensus.

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20050501faessay84304-p0/fouad-ajami/the-autumn-of-the-autocrats.html

[Zeppelin]

My roommate is from Lebanon, and let me tell you, he has some BABES in his family. Beautiful scenery, beautiful gals, exotic cars...I would love to visit years from now, once the country is under Lebanese control and is secure once again.

[EQAndyBuzz]

Pictures of the Lebanese women please?!?!?!

[EQAndyBuzz]

Pictures of the Lebanese women please?!?!?!