URL https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-election-activists/in-lebanon-vote-activists-face-warlords-powerful-political-dynasties-idUSKBN1I41ZG

DATE/ AUTHOR 2018-05-03 15:42:18+00:00	AUTHORS: Ellen Francis, Min Read

H In Lebanon vote, activists face warlords, powerful political dynasties

S1 BEIRUT (Reuters) - An unlikely bunch of activists have joined forces for Lebanon’s general election in a rare challenge to the sectarian political dynasties and warlords they say left the country in ruins.

S2 Parliament deputy Nadim Gemayel, son of Lebanese assassinated president-elect Bashir Gemayel walks at his office in Beirut, Lebanon April 11, 2018.
S3 REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

S4 A pharmacist, a women’s rights advocate, and a TV celebrity are part of a loose alliance striving for a small but meaningful breakthrough in the vote this Sunday, the first in nine years.

S5 Lebanese elections have never seen this many independent candidates, with dozens from outside the parties that dominate the country.
S6 They stand against a political elite which has barely changed since the 1975-90 civil war.

S7 They hope a new voting system will help them unseat at least some of the old guard, and want to tap into anger that fueled a wave of anti-government protests in 2015.

S8 “Their failure is our chance,” said Gilbert Doumit, who is running in Beirut against the incumbent Nadim Gemayel, the son of one of Lebanon’s most prominent war leaders.
S9 “We want to get our causes into the parliament.”

S10 The old order, built on powerful families and past militia chiefs, has sought to regenerate itself again ahead of this election, with fathers making way for sons or relatives.

S11 The newcomers face massive hurdles in the parliamentary contest and could win a handful of seats at best.

S12 Yet even that would mark a first.
S13 They believe it is time to build on public despair, which sparked the 2015 protest movement when piles of trash festered in the streets for months.

S14 The garbage symbolized a corrupt power-sharing system unable to meet basic needs, and later helped Beirut activists do surprisingly well in municipal polls, though they did not win.

S15 AN UPHILL STRUGGLE

S16 “No doubt, change will not happen in 24 hours, but the elections are one of the main stops,” said Doumit, 42, a consultant who has been pounding the streets of mainly Christian east Beirut for weeks.

S17 He is contesting a seat reserved for a Maronite Christian in an assembly which parcels out 128 seats among the many religious sects.

S18 Doumit is part of the wide coalition of 66 candidates in nine electoral districts.
S19 Smaller blocs are also vowing to fight the establishment across the 15 total districts.

S20 Some have worked for years to remedy the state’s failures.
S21 Others rose to prominence after the trash crisis, or came from local fame like talk show host Paula Yaacoubian.

S22 But Doumit’s district was long a stronghold of the Gemayel family and their Kateab party, which was founded by Nadim’s grandfather in 1936 and is now led by his cousin Sami.

S23 Nadim’s father, Bashir Gemayel, was assassinated in Beirut after being elected president during Israel’s 1982 invasion.
S24 Images of his father cover the walls of his offices.

S25 Gemayel, who is expected to keep the votes of big families with old Kateab ties, has also tried to target young voters.

S26 The new faces have a shot as people want alternatives, but their politics falls short, he said.
S27 They lack united or clear stances, including on critical issues like the powerful arsenal of Iran-backed Shi’ite Hezbollah, he added.

S28 “Soon, civil society will enter parliament,” he said of the independents.
S29 “They will not be able to achieve anything more than (we) did.
S30 They will have to share in the establishment.”

S31 He said he does not view himself as a political heir but sees nothing wrong with them if they serve Lebanon.

S32 PASSING ON THE BATON

S33 Gemayel, 35, became an MP in 2009 when his mother, Solange, made way for him.
S34 Outside Beirut, this election will see other establishment families pass on the baton.

S35 Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and Maronite politician Suleiman Franjieh are stepping aside for their sons.
S36 President Michel Aoun’s two son-in-laws are battling for Maronite seats.

S37 The new proportional law has replaced a winner-takes-all system, scrambling alliances among the ruling parties.
S38 Critics say the law was still crafted to suit traditional heavyweights, although it may open the door for new faces.

S39 Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center said the protest movements after 2015 had failed to produce real political powers that can challenge the old order.

S40 Long-time activists accuse some independents of allying with officials close to the establishment to boost their chances.

S41 Slideshow (3 Images)

S42 First-timers do not enjoy a level playing field.
S43 Incumbent parties wield patronage, handing out government jobs, own hospitals and TV stations, or receive regional funding, he said.

S44 In the Beirut district where Doumit and Gemayel face off, all is not lost for independents, partly because its relatively well-off electorate can afford to reject the establishment.

S45 For the working class though, “their lifeline passes through the traditional parties,” Hage Ali said.
S46 Anyone who wants to contest the elite has to offer viable alternatives.
S47 “This is where the real competition is, these are the people.”

