Beirut Spring

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Why Does Ayman Nour Want To Start a New Lebanese Party?

May 25, 2011 · Mustapha Hamoui

I’m filing this as a WTF story for now:

Egyptian opposition figure Ayman Nour is in the process of founding a Lebanese branch of his Al-Ghad Party […] Nour, the head of the Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) Party, said he will not announce the details of the new Lebanese Al-Ghad until “the right time,” but said that it will be a “liberal party” that shares the ideals of the party he helped to found in 2004.

I’m not familiar with the intricacies of Egyptian politics, but I can’t figure out why a non-Lebanese would want to start a political party in Lebanon. Not because I don’t believe that anyone with a set of strong principles can set up a pan-regional party, but because I don’t think it’s workable in practice in a sectarian Lebanon. Besides, Al-Ghad (tomorrow) sounds an awful lot like Al-Mustaqbal (the future ).