NY times : KSA behind the loyalists' funding

[Danny Z]

here is an article written by Robert F. Worth, it appeared yesterday on the NY times:

Foreign Money Seeks to Buy Lebanese Votes

Article 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. Bryan Denton for The New York Times Walid Maalouf, an independent candidate for Parliament, is trying to buck the political culture by visiting towns and trying to persuade the Lebanese to see candidates as potential employees. “Whoever pays the most will get my vote,” he said. “I won’t accept less than $800.” He may get more. The parliamentary elections here in June are shaping up to be among the most expensive ever held anywhere, with hundreds of millions of dollars streaming into this small country from around the globe. Lebanon has long been seen as a battleground for regional influence, and now, with no more foreign armies on the ground, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region are arming their allies here with campaign money in place of weapons. The result is a race that is widely seen as the freest and most competitive to be held here in decades, with a record number of candidates taking part. But it may also be the most corrupt. Votes are being bought with cash or in-kind services. Candidates pay their competitors huge sums to withdraw. The price of favorable TV news coverage is rising, and thousands of expatriate Lebanese are being flown home, free, to vote in contested districts. The payments, according to voters, election monitors and various past and current candidates interviewed for this article, nurture a deep popular cynicism about politics in Lebanon, which is nominally perhaps the most democratic Arab state but in practice is largely governed through patronage and sectarian and clan loyalty. 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. Still, even a narrow win by Hezbollah and its allies, now in the parliamentary opposition, would be seen as a victory for Iran — which has financed Hezbollah for decades — and a blow to American allies in the region, especially Saudi Arabia and Egypt. So the money flows. “We are putting a lot into this,” said 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. “We’re supporting candidates running against Hezbollah, and we’re going to make Iran feel the pressure.” As it happens, Lebanon has campaign spending limits this year for the first time, and the Arab world’s first system to monitor that spending, by the Lebanese chapter of Transparency International. But the limits — which are very loose to begin with — apply only in the last two months of the campaign. And they are laughably easy to circumvent, according to election monitors and Lebanese officials. Reformers have tried and failed to introduce a uniform national ballot, which could reduce the influence of money and make the system less vulnerable to fraud. 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. In a country where the average public school teacher earns less than $700 a month, these payments are a significant source of support for many communities. And 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. All the major political groups deny buying votes, which is illegal under Lebanese law, but election monitors acknowledge that it is a routine practice. “Since the 1990s, more money has been coming in,” said Paul Salem, the director of the Carnegie Middle East Center here. “Unfortunately, the system adjusts to that and in a way comes to expect it, especially among the poor.” In fact, many poorer Lebanese look to the elections as a kind of Christmas, when cash, health-care vouchers, meals and other handouts are abundant. The largess extends across the globe. From Brazil to Australia, thousands of expatriates are being offered free plane trips back home to vote. Saad Hariri, the billionaire leader of the current parliamentary majority and a Saudi ally, is reputed to be the biggest election spender. It may not have helped that he kicked off his campaign with a gaudy televised event that resembled the set of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” But members of his movement say that the accusation is unfair, and that their own money is outmatched by the hundreds of millions of dollars Iran has given to Hezbollah over the years. Candidates and political parties generally will not admit to receiving money from abroad. One of them, however, recently broke with convention by acknowledging it openly. Ahmed al-Asaad, 46, said that Saudi Arabia’s government was a “significant source of support” for his campaign against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. He said his goal was to pull the Shiites of Lebanon away from Iran. “I need tools to fight back, and if the Saudis have an interest in building a state here, why shouldn’t I take advantage of that?” said Mr. Asaad, an American-educated businessman, during an interview at his office just outside Beirut. Candidates who do not ally themselves with a powerful patronage machine are almost unheard of here. Walid Maalouf, a banker who worked briefly as a diplomat while living in the United States, is running an independent campaign on a shoestring budget, barnstorming from town to town in his mountain district. He says most people in the villages tell him he is the only politician who bothers to visit them. They are grateful, but he does not offer cash or patronage, and they are unsure what to think of him. Recently, Mr. Maalouf said, he was trying to explain to a village leader that he should think of candidates as employees, not patrons — someone they would hire to represent them effectively in the government. “He looked at me,” Mr. Maalouf recalled, “and then he said, ‘Go back to America.’ ” Hwaida Saad contributed reporting.

Here is my reply to the author:

READER'S MESSAGE:
Robert I read your article on the lebanese elections dated yesterday, while it conveys a lot of truth of what is happening on the Lebanese election scene, it is still misleading to the reader about the origins and stakes of this electoral fight. I am deeply sorry that the NY times does not try to shed light on this issue, but contributes to the misinformation the previous administration has been trying to sell to the American reader. While it is true that Hezbolla is part of the electoral battle, there is definitely another reason why these elections are being thought as breaking point in the Lebanon. The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) led by Ex General Michel Aoun and which fought the Syrian occupation for years creating lobying ccongress to adopt the US SALSRA act is aiming to get 35 MPs, the larger block any party is aiming to get in parliament. FPM sees this election as the final act of removing the corrupt leaders Syria brought to power with consent from the US government back then and the start of the third republic of Lebanon where leaders answer to populations rather than foreign governments. It is deceiving to read articles in the media and especially in such a big newspaper as the NY times that fails to mention the existence of FPM as if it is hiding the fact (or shame) that FPM is running against the side the corrupt party the US administration and Saudi governments are backing, the same party the Syrian occupation put in place against the will of Lebanese people and under which corruption and wrongful elections laws were created to keep corrupt leaders in power whose allegiance is for foreign influence. I believe that a media outlet mission should surpass its bottom line, some media outlets were born for propaganda PR reasons but I believe the role of a journalist working for a prestigious paper like the NY is to avoid falling in the easy cliches of forgetting important facts whether be it intentionally or for lack of further researching the subject the journalist is writing about. The role of journalism should go beyond financial. Journalists most and foremost raison d'etre is to convey the truth to those who are not on the ground to see or know the truth. Now that you know truth or at least my version of it, I hope you make something out of it.


and below is his reply:

Thanks for your letter. Don't worry! I am fully aware of the FPM's role. This is only the first of several articles I plan to write about the elections. There is plenty of time. I agree about the importance of the FPM, and hope to write a whole story focusing entirely on it.

regards, RW

Robert Worth
CURRENTLY IN BEIRUT
The New York Times
Beirut Bureau Chief
worth@nytimes.com
webmail: rfworth@gmail.com
[]


Here is some info on Bob

Robert F. Worth is an American journalist who was a correspondent in Baghdad for The New York Times from 2003 to 2006. Worth joined the Times as a reporter on the metropolitan desk in 2000.

In October 2007, it was announced that Worth would become a Middle East correspondent for the Times, succeeding Hassan M. Fattah.

Worth is a graduate of Wesleyan University and has an M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University.

[Revolution1989]

Couple of key things to note in defense of the article (despite its flaws):

Open and official recognition of the support KSA is providing to the Loyalist.

Clarity on the prevailing corruption and aborted reforms to make the election cleaner and more transparent: clear implication is that majority who was in power refused to pass those reforms. From an American public perspective, it is great progress to try to describe nuances: It is not because loyalist are perceived as pro-americans (more likely implementing Saoudi / Egyptians plans) that they are good... They refused to implement reforms to improve the election process

Finally, I love the quote "Go back to America"... As much as it hurts our pride, we need to acknowledge certain Lebanese realities...


BTW, Danny, thanks for your reply...

[Diabolo_7]

Originally Posted by Revolution1989

Finally, I love the quote "Go back to America"... As much as it hurts our pride, we need to acknowledge certain Lebanese realities...

This probably have more to do with Mr. Maalouf himself than Lebanese realities...

[alimania]

I just want to clarify that I actually just picked up the NY Times here in New York and it's today's (23rd April) paper - not yesterday's.

Not a very good advertisement for Lebanon, though :/

[loubnaniTO]

great job Danny. Journalists should be aware that FPM is expected to end up with the largest parliamentary bloc... sooner or later they will have to recognize its role.

[FBM]

soo........ ALL PARTIES are geting money from the outside and everyone is paying up happy now?

[X]

The Syrian-Iranian-Ruissian-American axis of evil is supporting the opposition, if you want Loubnan awalan vote zay ma hiye la hayde shou esmo

[Revolution1989]

Originally Posted by FBM

soo........ ALL PARTIES are geting money from the outside and everyone is paying up happy now?

Sources? Where have you seen that in the article? It clearly states KSA ("“We are putting a lot into this,” said one adviser to the Saudi government")...

And if you reply Iran, the article only said that Iran has been financing HA for years... nothing about the election

[FBM]

“Whoever pays the most will get my vote,” he said. “I won’t accept less than $800.”

He may get more. The parliamentary elections here in June are shaping up to be among the most expensive ever held anywhere, with hundreds of millions of dollars streaming into this small country from around the globe.

All the major political groups deny buying votes, which is illegal under Lebanese law, but election monitors acknowledge that it is a routine practice. “Since the 1990s, more money has been coming in,” said Paul Salem, the director of the Carnegie Middle East Center here. “Unfortunately, the system adjusts to that and in a way comes to expect it, especially among the poor.”



Candidates and political parties generally will not admit to receiving money from abroad

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.


EVERYONE BUYS VOTES...

[superduper703]

Originally Posted by Revolution1989

Sources? Where have you seen that in the article? It clearly states KSA ("“We are putting a lot into this,” said one adviser to the Saudi government")...

And if you reply Iran, the article only said that Iran has been financing HA for years... nothing about the election

Please, don't insult our intelligence. If the author couldn't find an Iranian source to quote, it doesn't mean that it's not happening.