Saving Private Saad, and ourselves
6/2/2005
Michael Young

No sooner had I predicted last week that President Emile Lahoud would soon be on the bread line, than there were signs that Walid Jumblatt and Saad Hariri were concocting a plan to extend Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri's term in office in exchange for helping them politically liquidate the president. Suddenly, all optimism evaporated.

Up in the palace, a dead duck walking
5/27/2005
Michael Young

When he took over the Lebanese presidency in 1998, Emile Lahoud promised transparency and a strengthening of national institutions. He then set about transparently institutionalizing a military regime similar to the kind favored by his creator, Syrian President Bashar Assad. Today, Lahoud has a more daunting challenge: choosing the method of his political execution.

Lebanon's ready to vote but obstacles to change remain
5/26/2005
Ghassan Rubeiz

Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon has increased freedom in the country, but Lebanon still faces internal threats: self-serving political leaders, a strange power-sharing formula that divides up power among religious sects, and an expanding national debt. Sectarian politics is the most fundamental structural problem in Lebanon.

Both Lebanese election laws were unfair
5/11/2005
Khatoun Haidar

In the flurry of declarations following the abortive parliamentary session last Saturday, it became clear that the Lebanese would vote for their next Parliament on the basis of the 2000 electoral law that brought in the present Parliament.

Before Aoun's 'tsunami,' a wilderness of suspicions
5/5/2005
Michael Young

So Michel Aoun returns this weekend, promising a tsunami, as he recently put it. It was typical that he failed to see, in the shadow of the East Asian killer wave, the inelegance of those words. The general surfs in on a swell of ambition, the kind that reportedly makes him believe he can cut a deal with President Emile Lahoud.

Give Lebanese living abroad the chance to vote
4/28/2005
Chibli Mallat

Lebanese citizens who find themselves abroad on election day cannot cast a ballot at home, even if their name is on the electoral rolls. They cannot vote even if they provide a power of attorney to someone, nor can they vote by correspondence, through the Internet, or at a Lebanese embassy or consulate.

Syrian self-preservation means delaying Lebanese elections
4/18/2005
Walid Choucair

With the departure of Syrian troops from various parts of Lebanon and the approaching withdrawal from the rest of the country by the end of April, the electoral balance of power in the country has radically changed in advance of elections scheduled to be held by May 31. Even before the February assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Hizbullah will emerge a political winner
4/11/2005
Nadim Hasbani

A new phase of power sharing negotiations is under way following the monumental demonstrations organized by Hizbullah and the opposition. Jumblatt's visit to Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir's messages offer the most recent examples.

Hizbullah and the Christians must talk
3/31/2005
Michael Young

There was much hand-wringing among Christian political groups when Druze leader Walid Jumblatt met with Hizbullah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday. That was unwarranted, because the meeting was very much in line with the opposition's strategy of building up a domestic consensus before Syrian forces leave Lebanon.

Lebanon's youths are now writing their own future
3/29/2005
Samir Khalaf

As a Lebanese I feel a bit redeemed by the startling and exultant events of the past month. For almost four decades of my active life as a social scientist and humanist I have been documenting Lebanon's enigmatic and contested existence; this is the first time I feel more than just a flush of elusive enthusiasm.

A neutral Cabinet is best for Lebanon
3/8/2005
Elias Aoun

Prior to the Syrian decision last August to extend the mandate of President Emile Lahoud, I told a Lebanese-American lobbyist that an extension could be prevented by convincing about 30 Lebanese members of Parliament from attending the special parliamentary session convened to vote on the decision.

Go for direct Lebanese elections to avoid outside manipulation
3/4/2005
Wissam S. Yafi

The Lebanese opposition scored a historic victory when the government of Omar Karami resigned earlier this week. And yet it also warned this was only the beginning. This raises a question as to where the end is. Is it changing the electoral law?

What's next for Lebanon's opposition?
3/3/2005
Michael Young

One can say of the government of Omar Karami "good riddance," but its departure was really just a case of pulling the plug on a respirator. That the former prime minister had rubber knees didn't change the fact that his reckless statements about the opposition, the army, and the unity of Lebanese society, all for the sake of defending the everlasting presence of Syrian soldiers in Lebanon, long ago killed him politically.

The problem is the extended presidency
3/2/2005
Chibli Mallat

The ideal course Lebanon must pursue following the resignation of Prime Minister Omar Karami starts with a simple step: the resignation of President Emile Lahoud.