Geostrategic Media Political Commentary, Analysis, Security, Defense
By Sondoss Al Assaad
The Lebanese constitution stipulates that the parliamentary electoral process take place every four years; however, the political unrest during the recent years has delayed this election, rankling voters and galvanizing a campaign to change electoral laws. Per Lebanon’s constitution, it is committed that the president is a Maronite Christian; the prime minister is a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of the parliament a Shiite Muslim.In May 2018, Lebanon will hold its first parliamentary elections after postponing it several times since 2009.
The new electoral dynamic could significantly change the political calculus. This law has eventually granted the Lebanese immigrants their right to vote; has reduced the number of electoral districts in the country from 26 to 15 and has replaced the current plurality system with a system of proportional representation; increasing the sectarian diversity of MPs within each district.
Each of the eighteen religious sects, which the Lebanese constitution recognizes, the designations by which political seats are allocated, court foreign support. In response to Lebanon’s failure to condemn attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran following the kingdom’s execution of a Shi’ite cleric, the Saudis cancelled a three billion dollar aid package for the Lebanese army. Additionally, they increase the level of their aggressive threatening rhetoric anti Lebanon.
The expected election will take place after the consecutive political debates and since the former president; Michel Suleiman finished his term in 2014 without an agreement on who would succeed him. After two years of the presidential vacant, the Lebanese Politicians overcame the political deadlock in October 2016, electing General Michel Aoun as president.
In a televised speech, Hezbollah Secretary General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah urged the Lebanese to effectively take part in order to get the largest electoral outcome. He asserted that the relative law allows people to take their natural size in contrast to the law of majority, stressing, “The great harvest that we have achieved in Lebanon has cost us dear blood and it is our responsibility to keep our country strong.”
Lebanon is considerably polarised because of the continuous political unrest, Zionist attacks, security drastic events and the impact of the Syrian civil war. With this situation, President Aoun would play an effective role in terms of implementing changes and reforms. Undoubtedly, he stores experience of having an ability to weave understandings, build national bridges, address diverse forces and demonstrate strong leadership to rebuild the state.
Analysts consider that Aoun’s impending election would be an immense victory for Hezbollah, in terms of its political allies as well as its position in Lebanon and a painful climb down for the Saudis after their disengagement with Lebanon since February 2018. This co-operation dates back to 2006 when President Aoun signed a formal agreement of alliance between his Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah. President Michel Aoun has consistently backed Hezbollah ever since.
The Lebanese electoral system has followed sectarian allocations, entitled ‘consociational democracy’, since the independence from French Mandate in 1943. Seats in both the parliament and the government are reserved for the 18 different religious sects’ representatives. This sectarian designation divides sects and prevents political mobilisation around specific issues. As a result, the interests of outside powers take precedence over the interests of Lebanese voters.
Addressing his followers,Sayyed Nasrallah further highlighted, “Your votes in favour of the Resistance’s candidates would preserve the blood of the martyrs who have fallen in the Resistance’s path especially amid the current direct US interference in the region.”
After the 2005 assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri, the Lebanese public was divided, either supporting the March 8 Alliance i.e. Resistance axis, or the March 14 Alliance i.e. anti-Resistance axis. Disagreements between these two groups at the very beginning intensified, and then subsided correspondingly with political developments.
Since the adoption of the new law, which is based on the proportional representation system, electoral experts confirmed that the distribution of seats among the political forces was almost conclusive. They emphasised that the “Shi’ite duo” Hezbollah and Amal Movement agreed that the sect’s parliamentary seats would be shared consensually. Such a deal means that Hezbollah and Amal would maintain additional parliamentary seats; particularly in the two districts: Baalbek/Hermel and Nabatieh/Bint Jbeil/Zahrani.
Amid the consecutive Zionist-American-Saudi failures in the region, analysts expect that the coming election, which many Lebanese are awaiting enthusiastically, might interrupt almost the nine years of stability.In the announcement of the electoral program for Hezbollah’s MPs and the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, the Secretary-general of Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said, “Be careful there are American-“Israeli” exercises. There are developments in the region and the world.”
Mostly all Lebanese understand that the stagnant political status quo can undermine security in the long run due to the foreign blatant interference in the Lebanese internal issues. A robust debate and concerns remain heavily centred on security and the status quo. It is obvious that the Zionist Saudi American powers aligned with some Lebanese actors would react undesirably to any significant shifts in the Lebanese political scene.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addressed his followers, “To the Lebanese, the upcoming parliamentary elections represent a serious opportunity for the Lebanese people to re-produce their national authority, benefiting from the state of stability and safety provided by the protection umbrella thanks to the equation of the army, the people and the resistance. The security presence in Lebanon is due to this equation. There is a dispute in the evaluation, but this is our opinion. There is a new electoral law based on proportionality in which we contributed greatly to its adoption. It will allow the Lebanese to better express their choices better and correct the parliamentary representation as much as possible.”
Analysts, further, assume that the Saudis could leverage the power and launch an economic boycott over Lebanon as they have done with Qatar. Sayyed Nasrallah expressed, “Everyone has come to realize that the country’s situation on the financial level has become dangerous. Thus, discussions were held that if we continue like this, will Lebanon become like Greece or not?” He added, “It is necessary for everyone to deal with the issue of fighting waste and corruption in all departments and institutions of the state that is linked to public money.” “The issue of fighting [corruption and waste] is an absolute national priority. We will commit ourselves and work on the basis of this priority in the coming stage,” Sayyed Nasrallah read.
