Parliament Elections 2009 #1

Everybody in Lebanon is breathing parliamentary elections these days. Even people outside of Lebanon are breathing Lebanese elections, more so the non-Lebanese than the Lebanese.

And since that is the case, we here at the BabaGannouj et La Zaytouni blog will be increasingly posting more and more posts regarding the parliamentary elections. Now bare with me, I understand that most of you are probably fed up with parliamentary elections already, but we are Lebanese after all and we can't let this one slip by. Now mind you that most of our coverage will focus on the negative and all the screwed up things that come with discussing anything that comes out of Lebanon. Naturally.

Here goes the first installement:

Kalam EL Nass, which actually happens to be one of my favorite TV shows, that runs on the Lebanese channel LBCI, is actually coming on air almost daily now with a new kick, Parlement 2009. Basically, they have two opposing candidates running against each other in the same district square off in the same episode. And believe me, it'a a HUGE headache. The episode between Sami Gemayel and Ibrahim Kanaan, both running for the Maronite seat in the Metn district, was a screaming match.

But this post is actually about someone else, but along the same lines.

Someone at LBC thought it was an ingenious idea to put together a bunch of guys, each representing a particular party, and have them discuss May 7th event of last year. Now while this is normally and usually a noble cause, and we here at this blog do not in any way scorn any attempts at discussions especially in Lebanon, it was completely disheartening to actually watch that video.

Here's the link for you enjoyment, you be the judge:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5-MTvfD2PY

Basically, these people have no opinion of their own. It was annoying to watch. They are repeating almost "mot at mot" what their leaders/parties say on a daily basis. Not a single one of them "strayed" from set policy, even the vocabulary used was almost exactly the same. Equally disturbing to watch was the extreme and dangerous divide between these people. I had hopes for the younger generation. I thought that we were a bit better than that.
I don't know about you, but the more and more I watch these elections, the more and more I lose hope that we are ever gonna get out of this "cycle of shit" that Lebanon has been living in for years.

And no, I did not base all that on just this video. But it's a small example.

BG