Qifa Nabki
Lebanese elections
Looking Ahead
The cabinet formation process seems to be chugging along (fingers crossed), and the expectation is that the executive branch will finally get down to business later this week. It’s the end of an era, and some readers believe that this means that I should engage in a dab of ponderous reflection. Who am I to … Continue reading
All for None
I’ve written an opinion piece on the senselessness of consensual politics for The National. It will be out in print this Friday, but the editors at The Review have agreed to put it up a couple of days early on the website, given the timeliness of the subject matter. The first few paragraphs are below. … Continue reading
Aoun Drops Demands, Opposition Adds New Member
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, General Michel Aoun, has announced that he is dropping what many believed to be the principal obstacle to the Lebanese cabinet formation: the demand that his son-in-law Gebran Bassil be appointed Telecommunications Minister. Anticipation was high in Beirut today that this development would pave the … Continue reading
Hariri Walks Away
[We managed to get yesterday’s poll up just in the nick of time, but the results are now moot. So, here’s another poll for you. (Those of you reading on RSS, you’ll probably need to click over to the blog itself to vote).] Seventy-three days, countless meetings, and one cabinet proposal later, Saad al-Hariri has … Continue reading
Daily Star: Lebanon’s Political Woes Are a National Pain in the Ass
This Daily Star editorial means well, it really does. But who could resist pointing out the little Freudian slip… “The only long-term solution to Lebanon’s perineal political woes is to completely overhaul the system. That means drafting a new electoral law that provides a basis for genuine representation in the government and creating mechanisms for … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…