Qifa Nabki
Free Patriotic Movement
Lebanon’s Political Honeypot: What’s Behind the Telecoms Spat
The following commentary is by a well-informed reader of this blog who goes by the pseudonym “Charles”. He was one of the authors of the excellent Lebanese Political Journal blog (largely defunct since about 2007, but a must-read during the post-Hariri assassination years), and his intervention provides some much-needed context on the larger issues behind the telecoms showdown … Continue reading
Coup-Coup in Lebanon: Minister Baroud Resigns Over Telecoms-ISF Showdown
Lebanese Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud resigned yesterday following a bizarre showdown involving two different branches of the Internal Security Forces, Minister of Telecommunications Charbel Nahhas, and Baroud himself. March 14 is calling it a Telecoms Ministry-launched coup against the executive branch of the Lebanese government; March 8th is calling it an ISF-launched coup against the … Continue reading
Lebanese Stalemate: The Syria Theory
I have tried to resist viewing the current stalemate in Lebanon’s cabinet formation as the product of Syrian meddling. After all, there are more than enough local obstacles in Lebanon for Syria to bother getting its hands dirty. Some of these obstacles include: Michel Aoun’s struggle with President Sleiman over cabinet shares; Michel Aoun’s struggle … Continue reading
The General Begs to Differ
In a week from today, Lebanon will have been without a functioning government for three months. That’s not quite as long as the four and a half month stint that the country endured in 2009 following the legislative elections, but it’s still an embarrassingly long delay. Perhaps the most embarrassing thing about it is the … Continue reading
Who Needs Hizbullah? (According to Wikileaks, Not Nabih Berri)
Over the past several weeks, as Wikileaks has released its reams of US government cables full of politically damaging statements by the leaders of Lebanon’s March 14th coalition, many have remarked on the fact that Hizbullah and its allies have not exploited the documents as purposefully as they could have. Sure, there has been the … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…