Why Beirut Madinati’s Results May be The Best We Can Ever Have
The group may have achieved 40% of the vote, but all the stars were aligned in its favor. We may never again see the conditions so ripe for a political upset in Lebanon.
Consider for a moment what Beirut Madinati had going for it as it entered the election:
The Trash Crisis and Peak Revulsion
Things were very bad in Beirut with trash literally everywhere. People were worrying about mortal threats, carcinogenic gases, super bacteria, stinking streets. Lebanon was the mockery of the world, adding wounded pride to wounded bodies. We couldn’t fall any lower
The Surprise Element
The political elite was taken by surprise by Beirut Madinati. It didn’t see it coming. It didn’t prepare for the election beforehand and had to rush things at the last moment. This won’t happen again, considering how they almost lost yesterday.
Low Turnout
Despite what you may have heard, the low turnout was great news for Beirut Madinati. This means that their opponents, who lacked their supporters’ enthusiasm, were the ones who stayed home.
Withholding Scrutiny
Many of the elite supported Beirut Madinati as a catch-all movement against the ruling class. To the extent that many have set ideology aside and suspended doubt to vote for them. Capitalists were voting for a platform that promised “guaranteed cheap housing” despite knowing in the depth of their hearts that there cannot be such a thing without other market-distorting measures like rent-control or price fixing.
Star Power
Nadine Labaki and some of the other star-appeal members of team may have forever forsaken politics after yesterday.
Breathless support of online community
Almost the entire online community was standing behind Beirut Madinati, partly because it was a refreshing and new phenomenon and partly because of the reasons above
Are we forever doomed then? Not quite. This post is not to argue that there is no future for a Beirut Madinati kind of movement. This is to say that they had their best chance, and things will never be as easy as last election.
The future Beirut Madinati will compete in a much more difficult environment, where politicians are prepared, where the trash will be gone, where people will be scrutinizing the details more carefully. In other words, they will need a much bigger effort to achieve the same results. They have their work cut out for them…
