http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/middle_east/lebanon_from_protest_to_leadership Comments for "Lebanon’s “14 March”: beyond protest , Hazem Saghieh " en http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/middle_east/lebanon_from_protest_to_leadership#comment-441116 <p>The revolutionary transformation of Lebanon's political landscape in 2005 was widely hailed as launching a new era of confessional cooperation. In place of the old quasi-tribal political forum, in which sectarian "zu'ama" (traditional community leaders) vied for advantage over the other religious communities, optimists saw the emergence of a new way of thinking about politics, one that revolved around issues of national interest. Both the majority "14 March" coalition and "8 March" opposition brought Muslims and Christians into united political fronts.</p> <p>Yet, as Hazem Saghieh rightly points out, "no bonds have developed between them". This is because fundamentally nothing has changed. There is indeed a superficial collaboration, but it is simply the latest twist in an ongoing game played by the same politicians, with the same confessional constituencies. The political imaginations of the Lebanese are no less coloured by the memory of violence and tension cemented over decades. Politicians rely on long-established clientelist networks within their communities, and appeal to deeply ingrained loyalties that come bound up with prejudices.</p> <p>Michel Aoun is an interesting example. Claiming a majority of Christian votes at the last election in 2005, he has since allied his party with the militant Shi'a group Hezbollah. While this might seem to indicate a level of comfort among Christians with Islamic, or even Islamist, neighbours, this controversial move has in fact lost Aoun a large portion of his grass-roots support, and was most likely engineered in a failed grab for the presidency. It is commonly speculated that the 2009 general election will demonstrate Christian disapproval of his flirtation - however superficial - with Hezbollah.</p> <p>Moreover, although the current political fronts combine Muslim and Christian parties, that configuration most worryingly pits Shi'a against Sunni, reflecting regional divisions that could threaten violence like that in Iraq.</p> <p>Alexander Henley<br /> Jounieh, Lebanon</p> Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:06:06 +0100 admh comment 441116 at http://www.opendemocracy.net http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/middle_east/lebanon_from_protest_to_leadership <p id="wuan"> Three years ago, on 14 March 2005, Lebanon witnessed an unprecedented event: a demonstration of a million or more civilians protesting against the assassination of their former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri a month earlier and demanding the withdrawal of Syrian troops from their country. The occasion led observers to draw comparisons with Ukraine&#39;s &quot;orange revolution&quot; of the winter just passed, when protestors encamped on the streets of Kyiv refused to accept the results of a fraudulent presidential election and eventually - through their sheer persistent and peaceful democratic defiance - forced a re-run and in the process <a id="tnt3" href="/article/democracy_power/ukrainians_citizens">became citizens</a> of a free state. </p>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/middle_east/lebanon_from_protest_to_leadership" class="read-more" title="Read the rest of this posting.">Read the rest of this post...</a><p><a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/middle_east/lebanon_from_protest_to_leadership">read more</a></p> http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/middle_east/lebanon_from_protest_to_leadership#comment middle east conflicts democracy &amp; power Creative Commons normal Hazem Saghieh Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:48:11 +0100 opendemocracy 36138 at http://www.opendemocracy.net