Qifa Nabki
Saad Hariri
Forbidden Desire
Various pro-March 14 outlets are reporting that Michel Aoun is again derailing efforts to form a cabinet by changing his demands. Some are even suggesting that Aoun’s own allies are getting fed up, notably Marada chief Suleiman Frangieh who was “seemingly annoyed and surprised by… Aoun’s altering position.” The Qnion has gotten its grubby little … Continue reading
Citizen Zero
As things have been too slow in Lebanon to warrant serious commentary and too depressing to warrant satire, I’d like to direct your attention to one of the best publications on Lebanese affairs, The Monthly. It’s published in English and Arabic by Information International, a research and consultancy firm based in Beirut and headed by … 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
The Constitutional Backdrop to Lebanon’s Cabinet Deadlock
We hear a lot of rhetoric these days from FPM leaders about Saad al-Hariri’s arrogant unilateralism in his cabinet-formation dealings, a unilateralism that they say violates the constitutional principle of “communal coexistence” (Preamble, clause j). Accompanying this argument is the occasional complaint about the Ta’if Accord, which (so the Aounists say) stripped the Maronite President … 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
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…