Qifa Nabki
Elections
Lebanon Spent Nearly Two of Last Four and a Half Years Without a Government
There has been some movement in recent days on the cabinet formation stalemate. Saad Hariri agreed to join a national unity government with Hizbullah, a welcome development after months of deadlock. How many months precisely? Nearly ten. Tammam Salam was appointed PM-designate on April 6, 2013. As you will recall, Lebanon’s previous premier Najib Mikati … Continue reading
The Last Za’im
The Lebanese MP and former minister Suleiman Franjieh gave a long interview to LBC’s Marcel Ghanem last week on Kalam Ennas. Topics covered included the situation in Syria, the disputed extension of the Lebanese Parliament’s mandate, and the upcoming Lebanese presidential elections. Franjieh, who is the scion of an established political family and the grandson and namesake … Continue reading
Mikati’s Resignation Signals the Collapse of the Lebanese Idea, Renewed Civil War, and the End of the World as We Know It
The media reaction to the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati last week has been puzzling, from my perspective. CNN says that the resignation “throws Lebanon’s politics in turmoil” while The Economist warns the Lebanese to “be careful,” as “Lebanon’s delicate sectarian system is in danger of falling apart.” Not to second-guess the propensity of the … Continue reading
Exploring the Implications of a Single National District
Last week, Hizbullah chief Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah announced his party’s support for an electoral law based on a single national district. In the past, the main champion of this idea has been Speaker Nabih Berri, but there has never been an occasion to take the possibility seriously since Lebanon’s electoral laws have generally not departed … Continue reading
Highly Unorthodox: The Week Lebanon Went Secular (And Ended Up More Sectarian Than Ever…)
When some future historian writes a chronicle of 21st-century Lebanon, she will likely devote a bemused footnote to the odd events of February 2013, when the country’s leaders saw fit to tear down a pillar of the confessional regime one week, only to erect another one a week later. On February 11, the Justice Ministry … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…