Scrambling To Save Aoun’s Face

Enemies and friends are Rushing to give the jilted General consolation prizes. Will that be enough to calm his sense of bitterness?

The first to make me smile will win…(photo source: Libération)
It can be argued that the person who lost most from the Doha accord was General Michel Aoun. According to March 14, the hapless [...]

Why They Chose Seniora

A loyal, thick-skinned and safe pair of hands with no political aspirations is what March 14 wants right now.
(source)
Mr. Hariri was tempted, but something didn’t feel quite right. So he decided to consult his base and his allies and got an unanimous reaction: We love you, but now is not the right time.
It would [...]

The Next Fight Will Be Over One Word

The word that the Doha accord completely avoided will be the most contentious issue in the formation of a new government.
Having fun…for now (Photo credit: Reuters)
It’s easy to get lost in the joy and jubilation of normal Lebanese citizens who have all the reasons to be thrilled: Their capital city is back to normal, the [...]

Beirut Electoral Map

Here’s a comparison I found at Blogging Beirut between the 2000 and the 2008 electoral laws for Beirut. As you can notice, the changes are obviously aimed at Mr. Hariri by lumping most of the Sunnis in one district and carving 2 smaller districts for minorities:

(source)

Lebanese 1960s Election law (Map) + Beirut Update

Here’s a map that shows the districts of the 1960s electoral law that will be used for the next general elections in Lebanon.

A lot of people are interested in seeing this, so please pass it around.
Update: Here’s a map of Beirut’s new law from Blogging Beirut (more details here)

The FPM’s Point Of View

Here’s how Antoine Hindi, an FPM (Aounist) reader of this site sees thing:
(Ps: The views expressed in this post do not necessarily represent those of Beirut Spring)
-Hizballah used arms internally and lost their right to claim otherwise-FPM condoned the use of violence - very negative in their street-LF Samir Geagea embarrassed himself with ridiculous claims [...]

Boutros Law Gets Two Powerful Backers

Could the support of a maverick party leader and a highly influential journalist set the Boutros law snowball rolling?
Could they help make our elections fair?
This blog has long argued that the fairest election law out there is the one set up by the national electoral law commission headed by the highly respected figure Mr. Fouad [...]

Pssst… Let’s Solve Some Problems While We’re fighting

The politicians may be fighting in public, but they’re also solving day-to-day problems in secret.
(photo source)
A Thorny matter of health insurance is being discussed by politicians in Beirut. The Future Movement and Hezbollah both present position papers to guide the deliberations. A civilized debate follows, and several hours later, a compromise is reached and decisions [...]