France 24<\/p>\n
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At a campaign rally just days before polls were set to open in Lebanon\u2019s much-anticipated parliamentary elections, Nadim Gemayel was working up a home crowd in Beirut\u2019s Christian-dominated Ashrafieh district with the familiar rhetorical treats.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want water? You want electricity? You want hope? You want human rights? You want women\u2019s rights? Then vote for Beirut 1,\u201d he said, referring to his electoral list of eight candidates in the 2018 race.<\/p>\n
Having set up his opening act, the 36-year-old scion of one of Lebanon\u2019s best-known political families then went in for the kill.<\/p>\n
Pumping his fist in the air \u2013 just as his father, former Lebanese president-elect Bashir Gemayel did in his heyday \u2013 the young Gemayel continued: \u201cVote for your sovereignty against those who wear black,\u201d he thundered. \u201cHezbollah is controlling everything in this country, but not parliament. This is the real comeback we seek, not just water, not just electricity, not just human rights, not just women\u2019s rights. We seek them all\u2026 and sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gemayel, who is standing for reelection this year, was addressing the contentious issue of Hezbollah\u2019s weapons and the crowd was lapping it up, erupting into cheers while thrusting flags and banners into the air.<\/p>\n
The Lebanese Shiite movement was the only militia that was allowed to keep its weapons after the 1975-90 civil war since Hezbollah maintained the arms were needed to defend Lebanon from Israeli aggression. Following the 2000 Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, however, there have been frequent calls for Hezbollah to put its arsenal under the control of the Lebanese state. They have met with no success.<\/p>\n
As an MP for one of Lebanon’s major Christian parties, the Kataeb, also known as “the Phalange”, Gemayel\u2019s call for Hezbollah to give up its weapons was in line with the national ideology of his party.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not a topic Laury Haytayan \u2013 an independent candidate standing for election for the very first time on a civil society list \u2013 focused on during her campaign.<\/p>\n
An oil and gas expert, Haytayan is among an unprecedented wave of women candidates who are running for the May 6 elections in a bid to address Lebanon\u2019s abysmal female representation in parliament. The outgoing 128-seat Lebanese parliament had only four women MPs. This year, a record 86 women candidates are vying for parliamentary seats.<\/p>\n
At a caf\u00e9 in downtown Beirut, Haytayan sighed when asked about critics who accuse her fellow civil society candidates of failing to address major national security issues such as Hezbollah\u2019s military arsenal.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, we are all against Hezbollah\u2019s weapons, that\u2019s clear. But the truth is, Hezbollah will never be dissolved without an international consensus,\u201d she explained. \u201cShould I be focused on this issue that I have no control over? I\u2019m interested in the electricity problem, the tax system, housing prices, corruption, transparency, resource management\u2026The politicians want you to focus on this issue [Hezbollah\u2019s weapons] because they want you to forget their own track record.\u201d<\/p>\n
After nine years \u2013 a period during which parliament unconstitutionally extended its term three times \u2013 Lebanon is finally going to the polls Sunday in an election that will gauge whether the country is ready for change, or if that\u2019s just the hopes of a section of the population privileged enough to dare to dream.<\/p>\n