Judging by this election, it takes fear and money to promote democracy in Lebanon.

[Diabolo_7]

Forbes.com The Billionaire Who Beat Hezbollah Lionel Laurent, 06.08.09, 12:40 PM EDT Tycoon Saad Hariri's anti-Syrian bloc wins after an election campaign greased with money and fear. LONDON -- If George W. Bush had still been President of the United States, he no doubt would have trumpeted the Lebanese elections on Sunday as a triumph for democracy and Western values, despite the clear sectarian divides still scarring the country. Instead, the task fell to Saad Hariri--the Sunni Muslim billionaire whose carefully-groomed facial hair betrays his Saudi upbringing--to try and paint the victory of his anti-Syrian electoral bloc as moderation's defeat of extremism. "Democracy won today," said Hariri, in a victory speech overnight, "and the bigger winner is Lebanon." His father, Rafik Hariri, whose sprawling business empire and Oger conglomerate led him to be known as "Mr. Lebanon," was assassinated in a car-bomb attack in 2005. Since then, the Saudi-born Saad has personified resistance to Syrian and Iranian intervention in Lebanon, heading the so-called "March 14" alliance alongside various Christian, Druze and Armenian parties, named after the date when massive protests over Rafik Hariri's murder pushed Syrian troops to withdraw from the country. Judging by this election, it takes fear and money to promote democracy in Lebanon. Government supporters feared that the Shia Muslim militant group Hezbollah, seen as an armed puppet of its backers in Syria and Iran, would win a parliamentary majority with its own allies and spark a national crisis. The Hariri bloc knew how to exploit this fear on the campaign trail when it claimed that a victory for the Hezbollah-led opposition would lead to a tripartite sharing of government and administrative posts between Shia Muslims, Sunni Muslims and Christians. They are currently only shared two ways, between Muslims and Christians. A related fear was also how the international community would react to a Hezbollah victory. American Vice-President Joe Biden visited Lebanon last month to say in no uncertain terms that a Hezbollah-led government should not expect American aid to flow as freely as before. U.S. ally Saudi Arabia is also a strong financial backer of Lebanon, supporting Sunni interests in the deeply-fragmented country. And although Israel failed to bomb Hezbollah out of existence in the 2006 Lebanon War, an electoral victory for the Shia group might heighten the chances of another conflict. Then there was money. Cash came in handy when flying Lebanese expatriates into the country to cast their vote on Sunday, a tactic which all sides reportedly dabbled in. Tales abound of parties buying $700 plane tickets for citizens abroad, with Iran, Syria and rival Saudi Arabia reported to be contributing to a $1 billion travel pot in total splashed across the country. Evidently March 14 still managed to tip the balance in this arena, with Hezbollah's main Christian ally, Michel Aoun, failing to tear crucial votes away from Christian allies of Hariri like the right-wing Phalangists. It would be unfair to see this as a stolen election, however. Hezbollah clearly did not do itself any favors by talking up its achievements of May 2008, when it turned its guns inwards for the first time and stormed Sunni neighborhoods to extract veto power from the government. Nor did it cut a convincing figure as a party of establishment politics rather than pugnacious opposition, particularly at a time when Lebanon and Syria are finally moving towards a rapprochement and when Lebanon's crippling public debt requires a healthy dose of stability. So what next for Saad Hariri and his victorious movement? IHS Global Insight analyst Gala Riani thinks that he and March 14 will have the upper hand in negotiating a new coalition government with Hezbollah--a necessary evil considering March 14 won just 71 seats out of the 128-seat parliament. Talks could see Hezbollah stripped of some of the extra powers it wrestled out of the government last year, such as the blocking minority in the cabinet for it and its allies. Hariri could even end up as prime minister, even though he does not seem eager to take on the role of government head. One thing looks certain: Lebanon's ever-shifting political alliances will not stay fixed for long. "There is scope for unexpected alliances," said Riani, "and not for the first time."

http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/08/har...hezbollah.html

[Red Phoenix]

democracy..

what's that word ?

i thought we had herd races here each 4 years

[IA64]

Even in USA and Europe, democracy does not exist...

[elias-aj]

Originally Posted by IA64

Even in USA and Europe, democracy does not exist...

Sure we don't have a democracy like the lebanese one, lol !

[Youchka]

It takes fear and money, indeed, but it also takes weak souls to swallow the fear and people with no dignity to accept the money. We should not blame the politicians, they are corrupt we know that, nor should we blame the tools they used, but rather, the receivers who accepted to be lied to and paid to.

[nuknuk]

Originally Posted by Youchka

It takes fear and money, indeed, but it also takes weak souls to swallow the fear and people with no dignity to accept the money. We should not blame the politicians, they are corrupt we know that, nor should we blame the tools they used, but rather, the receivers who accepted to be lied to and paid to.

Youchka, I watched GMA's interview tonight on OTV. He considered everyone who didn't vote for him as either stupid, weak, or corrupt. Is that how you plan to win their votes in 2013?

I'm going to be very honest with you. That type of mentality is very arrogant. FPM is doomed to become extinct if you continue down that path.

[NMA]

FEAR, MONEY.....


The two factors allowing a monarchy to rule in Saudi Arabia.

[bruno]

Originally Posted by nuknuk

Youchka, I watched GMA's interview tonight on OTV. He considered everyone who didn't vote for him as either stupid, weak, or corrupt. Is that how you plan to win their votes in 2013?

I'm going to be very honest with you. That type of mentality is very arrogant. FPM is doomed to become extinct if you continue down that path.

Well it started with us leaving FPM, i guess if GMA continue like this, he will have only his close friends and family in his party

[ZakiNassif]

Originally Posted by bruno

Well it started with us leaving FPM, i guess if GMA continue like this, he will have only his close friends and family in his party

sorry but you didnt quite understand the message here. after these elections you need to point it out clearly that 'you voted for them'. So that later one when a problem occurs u remind the people of it.

on another more important front: I say it again and again: C&R MPs need to have an organized plan to gather money (from the devil himself if needed) and offer khadamet (health, infrastructure, education etc.) in all of mount lebanon , jezzina nd zgharta. These kazas need to be protected with beton msallah in the next elections.

[Zayn]

I find the West's lack of knowledge on Lebanon absolutely hilarious.