Tag Archives: politics

Why I’m Against Proportional Representation (Nesbiyé) in Lebanon’s 2013 Elections

One of the main debates going on in the country currently is regarding the 2013 electoral law, mainly whether to include proportional representation in it or not.

Politicians’ views are already diverging on the matter and they break down to the following:

– Walid Jumblat: Against. He wouldn’t be totally dominant over the Druze vote and would lose a decent amount of his influence.

– Saad Hariri: Against. While he’s not as affected by this representation-wise as Jumblat, his stance has varied from being supportive of proportional representation to against it solely because he wants to bring Jumblat to his side for the elections.

– Hezbollah: With. They get about 90% of the Shiite votes in elections, which is where they have candidates. 90% in the proportional representation law would give them all the seats with very minimal effect. It’s a win-win situation for them so why not demand Lebanon as one district with proportional representation to have bigger gains across the map?

– Michel Aoun: With. Why wouldn’t he approve of something that would make him benefit from all the votes of the party mentioned above?

– Samir Geagea: No idea. He has made arguments than can go both ways so his stance regarding this matter hasn’t been fully formulated yet.

One of my main problems with proportional representation is that it is thought of as the cure to our system when it is far from being the case. Many believe that applying “nesbiyé” in the 2013 elections will start decreasing sectarianism by having different people from certain sects getting representation.

In order to do that, the electoral districts being thought of are getting increasingly bigger. Some are even suggesting to make Lebanon one whole electoral district. The argument? This is the only political elections where the population gets to vote so why not get the whole country to vote for everyone?

The way I see it an MP is a representative of their corresponding region first and foremost. Increasing electoral districts to make “nesbiyé” work will not lead to better representation. Or is it “representation” only when certain parties that wouldn’t dream of a parliament seat get one even if they don’t represent the woes of a region? Does a citizen from Beirut know what are my concerns as a citizen from Batroun? I don’t think so. Do I know what are the concerns of my friend in the South? Absolutely not.

What gives me the right to choose their MP and them mine? The sake of national unity? Please.

And for those who believe districts should be medium-sized, say according to the mohafaza – what do people in Batroun know about what a caza like Koura needs? What do people in Zgharta know about the demands of people in Bsharre?

When during parliamentary sessions an MP talks about his district as his main focus, you know this is what they represent not the whole country as we so gullibly want to believe. And it is definitely their right. The whole idea that we, as a country, need everyone to vote for everyone in order to reach unity is non-sensical. You don’t see it happening anywhere else in the world that a country votes for all the MPs its parliament has.

Let’s talk about how practical applying nesbiyé would be. I, in Batroun, get 2 MPs. In the 2009 elections, the margin for those who won was 53%-47%, which in a nesbiyé-equipped scenario means that the result wouldn’t be 2-0 but 1-1. Is that a representation of the will of the caza? Definitely not. Of course, applying proportional representation means Batroun would be merged with other districts, which brings me back to the point I mentioned previously. In reality, most cazas don’t have an overflow of MPs they get to vote to.

It is here that I have to ask: what’s the point of people voting and giving someone a majority when everyone gets to power either way? When I vote for someone and against another person, that means I do not want that person to represent me. If the results of my district turn out to be in my favor and the person who lost ends up in office anyway, then what’s the whole point of elections to begin with?

Moreover, in the current state Lebanon is finding itself today, especially with armed parties swaying the balance of power, would nesbiyé truly be fair, as it’s alluded to be, for parties that don’t have weapons?

In the current form of sectarian Lebanon today, when all sects except Christians give a majority that cannot be contested to one specific party, wouldn’t proportional representation with bigger districts dilute the Christian vote to a point of irrelevance as we’ve seen, for instance, in the 2000 and 2005 elections in certain districts?

In a country where division is based on sects and regions, any law will be accused of increasing either tension. The 2009 law is blamed for increasing sectarianism. We say that because we love to hide and pretend as if our regions are not a mass aggregation of people from one specific sect when, in fact, the only reason we look at the 2009 law negatively is because the results it brought about was a collection of people who couldn’t rule to begin with and others who don’t know how to rule.

Just take a look at a map of Lebanon and you’ll see exactly how one-colored most regions are. This is a demographically situation, not an electoral one.

No, proportional representation is not bad, as some politicians are saying, because it increases Syrian influence in Lebanon. Proportional representation is bad because it’s so ill-timed it is nowhere near the solution it is made out to be. It can only possibly work with bigger circumscriptions, and everything aside, this is an inherent flaw that cannot be ignored. It can only work when the political system of the country is not a disproportionate sectarian representation to begin with. It can only work when the main parties that will make part of it have, at least, some varying degrees of equal influence. When not everyone is fundamentally on equal footing, you can’t have a law that equalizes them in voting booths.

The Truth Behind Boutros Harb “Bowing” To Feltman

The following picture spread around like wildfire these past couple of days. Those against Boutros Harb started going on about how he was going back to his “roots” of bowing to those who are “superior.” (Yes, I have heard this being said.). Those that support him figured it can’t be true. I am neither a blind supporter nor a hater, so I simply didn’t care.

Typical Lebanese positions.

But there’s a video now to show which side was right. It looks like the picture was a very cheap shot by Assafir. They knew what he was doing and still published it anyway.

Feeling Concerned in Lebanon About The French Elections? You Shouldn’t? Well, Why Not?

The French presidential debate between Hollande and Sarkozy took place yesterday and it was closely watched by many Lebanese enthusiasts who are interested in French and international politics.

As those Lebanese watched the three hour debate, myself included, others were saying all over social networks how “we were not concerned” with this, how we should “scan our French passport” with every tweet or Facebook status we updated and how we really have nothing to do with French politics to begin with. “Ktir 3eyshina, wlo!”

Those people asking us not to feel concerned are the almost the same group that preach about how Lebanon is a playground for superpowers and that we, as people, need to stop following either political sides of the country because one is a pawn for Iran-Syria while the other is a pawn for the United States-France-KSA.

How could you ask us not to feel concerned when you are willingly admitting that France has a substantial influence in Lebanon?

The way I see it, because Lebanon is a playground of superpowers, not feeling concerned is the incorrect way of handling things. But I wouldn’t judge you if you decided you didn’t want to be involved. Therefore, I would also like from you to extend me the courtesy and not make it seem like I’m a blinded g0-after-they-hype Lebanese.

I can’t vote? So what? Does that mean I don’t get to have an opinion that I can express? This whole mentality of us – Lebanese – not having a political horizon extending beyond the 10452km2 of our country needs to be abolished. Sometimes, foreign politics is way more interesting – and civilized.

How so? Well, watching these types of debates can only lead you to have a better understanding on how political life needs to be done in Lebanon. Did you notice how Sarkozy and Hollande, despite being subtly at each other’s throats, were very polite in dealing with each other? Did you notice how, after the debate ended, they both had had the exact same talk time?

Where do we see this here? Or don’t you remember the incidence when Moustafa Alloush and Fayez Shukr almost slit each other’s throats on national TV? Or how about Alain Aoun and Ahmad Fatfat during the most recent parliamentary sessions?

You don’t think French politics concerns you? Fine. Don’t take it out on those who disagree with you. A word of advice though, I’d stay clear out of social networks when the American elections roll around. If you thought we were too much with the French elections, the American one will be a bloodbath, figuratively of course.

When Lebanese MPs Fall Asleep in Parliamentary Sessions

The following picture was apparently from a previous parliamentary session in 2006 by Al Liwaa newspaper. They are saying he was picking up something from the floor. I guess take this picture the way your logic tells you. 

We made fun of the Egyptian salafis for doing it. Now it’s our turn. MP Baqradonian (sp?) was found fast asleep during the country’s latest parliamentary sessions regarding the government.

Were they this boring? I wouldn’t really know. Somehow the idea of watching half a parliament bicker away and not really change anything isn’t at the top of my TV-priority list.

And by the looks of it, it’s not even on Baqradonian’s. Those eyeglasses must be very uncomfortable and the masb7a was not entertaining enough, apparently. Sleep tight, mr. MP. I’m fairly certain you’ll be back in 2013, with a pillow this time.

Dreaming of a better country, I hope

Tayyar.org: Not Sure If Tabloid or News Site

Tayyar.org is nowhere near my go-to site when it comes to Lebanese news (nor is Lebanese-forces.com for that matter). But you’d expect a self-proclaimed reputable website to at least be respectable enough not to post a picture like this on their Facebook wall:

To make things even more “appealing,” they had this news shared next to the picture calling the whole affair a “masra7iye” – Lebanese for play.

And then I remembered something: their timeline cover picture. So for reference, here it is:

Underneath their title, the words: Precision, Speed & Credibility are typed out. I really have no idea how a mocking picture of the head of one of Lebanon’s main parties can be considered as precise, speedy or credible.

I guess the admins who run that page and those who run the corresponding won’t stray much from the morals set by the leader they follow, nor are the people that follow said leader.

So for all matters and purposes, Tayyar.org is not a news website. It might as well call itself TayyarJaras.org – but wait, that would be degrading to Nidale el Ahmadieh’s tabloid. So let us tweak that a little bit and make it: TayyarJorsa.org – for yes, jorsa is what they are.