Qifa Nabki
Lebanon
Bank Triumphant – The Canonisation of Riad Salameh
Central Bank director Riad Salameh has been the toast of financial analysts everywhere for having apparently steered Lebanon through the global credit crisis unscathed. A friend of mine has penned a minority report, which I offered to publish on the blog. He goes by J of Chalcedon, and is a former resident of the magic … Continue reading
“So much for Lebanon’s so-called Cedar Revolution…”
Michael Young had an article in yesterday’s Daily Star entitled “Syria Will Win Lebanon’s Elections.” Young-haters will gleefully read it as a sign of surrender by one of March 14th’s most ardent and eloquent spokesmen, while his fans will tell you that there’s nothing new about this latest offering: Michael Young has been sour on … Continue reading
Ziad Baroud on the Lebanese Elections
Can there be any doubt that Interior Minister Ziad Baroud is the best thing to happen to Lebanese politics in a very long time? I went to hear the minister give the keynote address at a workshop on the Lebanese elections hosted by the Carnegie Middle East Center, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), … Continue reading
More Cheeky Aounist Posters
I promise to lay off March 14th at some point this week and go back to bashing Napole-aoun, but credit should be given where credit is due. The silly flag billboards all around Lebanon have been replaced by Future Movement electoral campaign billboards (coincidence?), and as Bech explains over at Remarkz, the results are often … Continue reading
Twenty-Four Hours and Counting…
The Future Movement launched its electoral campaign last night at BIEL with a (rather unusually) charismatic speech by Saad al-Hariri. Eschewing the teleprompters (and correct desinential inflection, alas) al-Hariri built up to a stirring crescendo: “Dear loved ones, there are nine weeks left until June 7. There are nine weeks before we fill the ballot … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…