Qifa Nabki
Michel Aoun
Aoun Rejects Hariri’s “Conditions” For Lunch Meeting
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanese MP and leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, General Michel Aoun, rejected Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri’s invitation to discuss the stalled cabinet formation over lunch. A dispute over the candidacy of Aoun’s son-in-law Gebran Bassil for the position of Telecommunications Minister is widely believed to be the main obstacle to the … Continue reading
Is That a Silver Bullet In Your Pocket…
We’ve entered the third week of deliberations over Lebanon’s next cabinet lineup, and there is no end in sight. Hariri has paid more house calls than a 19th century doctor in typhoid season, and yet for all we know, there isn’t even agreement on the most basic issues, like the number of ministers accorded to … Continue reading
Thar’s Federalists in Them Thar Hills…
Michael Young had an excellent op-ed in yesterday’s Daily Star about the dangerous course charted by Lebanon’s Christian leaders, particularly the young Sami Gemayel. I’ve disagreed with some of Young’s writings before in these pages, but I think that he is consistently among the most astute observers of Christian politics in Lebanon. Those who airily … Continue reading
The Christian Vote
I’m personally not so interested in questions like: “Who is the most popular Christian leader in Lebanon, according to Christians themselves…?” But it seems that many others (including a few readers of this blog) are interested in precisely this question, so I’ve decided to look into it. First, a methodological puzzle. How do you go … Continue reading
Deconstructing the Popular Vote
Scarcely a day goes by without an opposition leader reminding the Lebanese public about which side won the popular vote in the last election. Interestingly, though, I have not yet read much analysis that attempts to explain exactly how the opposition managed to win as much as 10% more of the popular vote while still … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…