People in Lebanon always seem to have a rock solid faith in good times that are just around the bend. Take the upcoming elections, e.g. Many here feel that once a new president is elected, the car bombs will stop, peace will dawn upon the country and the economy will pick up again.
Not surprisingly, these hopes are mostly expressed by those belonging to the March 14 camp. As always, to get a full understanding of the situation, one should try to see the other side as well. What possible options are left for March 8?
Well, first, to try to influence the election to see that the new president will either be sympathetic to your viewpoint or so weak it doesn’t matter anymore.
Second, and this is the scary part, what is there left to do if March 14 ignores the feelings of March 8 and chooses a strong, very much pro March 14 president? Then what can be done?
Only one answer: see that you get a blocking minority in Parliament. “Let March 14 have the president, with a few more killings, March 8 will own the House”, as somebody said the other day over an otherwise fine cup of coffee. If he is right, it could be that electing a president is only the start of more killings.
2 comments:
Changing the voting system is probably a very delicate subject in Lebanon. But a system in witch a candidate who resigns our dies, is automatically replaced by an other candidate from the same party (like in many European countries), seems to me the best way to stop the killings.
Skender, that is something to think about.
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