Feminist Attempts
An Open Letter to Everyone Lebanese // 2013 Elections
Hello there.
I have a proposal for you as a follow up to this post I wrote 2 months ago about taking back the Lebanese Parliament. I have been trying to find traction and excitement for this project but I can’t manage to convince people around me. Everyone says nobody will be on board and that it’s a failed idea. So I decided to put it online and ask for your feedback (whoever you are). Let me know how you feel about it. Be honest cos I might be wrong. But I can’t help thinking that if we can find a few hundred people who can believe in this, perhaps we can achieve the impossible.
—–
It is clear that we, the people, need to take back Parliament from the claws of the zo3ama, millionaires, and warlords. It is clear that all political parties in Lebanon are too sectarian and corrupt to change anything. We are stuck. We can dream of a revolution in the streets. Or we can dream of a revolution at the voting ballots.
The Lebanese Parliament should not exist so that the rich feudal lords can become richer and enforce their control over people. It exists to legislate laws that protect the people, ensure equality, and develop our economy and culture. Clearly, it has been doing none of that for decades now.
We must take it back.
Despite the corruption and inefficiency of the electoral system, we can still create a third option. Despite the sectarian division of the districts and the confessional quota of the seats, we can still run with an agenda to change this. Let’s elect new, qualified, inspiring people to Parliament. Let’s create a national coalition of top-notch candidates who support a platform of secularism, civil laws and socio-economic justice. Let’s vote for independent candidates who have fresh new ideas and commitments. Let’s support the new talents who usually have no chance: the women, the youth, the workers, the ones who have never had a relative in Parliament. Let’s hold our representatives accountable. Let’s revolutionize the system. Let’s run a low-budget, eco-friendly, grassroots campaign that will astonish generations. A coalition where everyone has a critical voice – and nobody is a blind follower. Let’s remember forever that summer we took back Parliament – against all odds, when nobody believed it was possible.
Makes you a little nervous, doesn’t it? Could it really happen? No. Surely, it is impossible. Or is it? Maybe? If we work hard enough? No… what is this naïve unrealistic dream, I obviously don’t know shit about politics. But wait. Can we gather enough heart and intelligence to face the billions of dollars in bribes? Can we break that barrier of fear and intimidation? Can we make our people believe in their power again?
I’m just like you – uncertain. But the mere thought of engaging in a real battle for Parliament in 2013 (instead of getting depressed) makes my heart dance. So I decided to put up this post and ask my fellow Lebanese: are we ready? What do you think? Can we find a few hundred Lebanese who can commit to a new 2013 elections campaign?
To you, the answer.
P.S. I will not publish your info online anywhere ever. But I will email you to have coffee.
[...] the article here: An Open Letter to Everyone Lebanese // 2013 Elections Posts Related to An Open Letter to Everyone Lebanese // 2013 Elections I Have a Feeling Our Time [...]
Participation in this electoral process is giving support to the system. The alternative is to boycott and riot. We must stop legitimizing the current system with public support regardless of the good intentions of change. http://www.atjoseph.net/2012/07/good-lebanese-citizen-must-not-vote.html
I personally think it’s a great idea, Nadine! It’s about time something like this happens! And I personally believe that this is the way to get things moving in the right direction. If you want to change the system, use it and rebuild it from the inside out. Use it, own it and dismantle it. Riots and boycotts are probably the obvious option, but in my opinion, utterly useless. Lebanon doesn’t need an Egyptian-like revolution: this will most certainly lead to more polarisation, division and extremism. You want the change, you have to be smart about it and come up with the right strategy to achieve it. A solid, well-thought agenda, based on concrete plans and clear vision is the basis. Make this strong and close to the people; that’s already half the work.
One very important thing to keep in mind: it’s a huge thing what you are attempting; it’s most certainly what the country needs, but it’s a hell of a job. Therefore it is of extreme importance to keep going even if doesn’t work in 2013! Keep it loud, keep it visible and build on all the exposure and support you’re going to get. So that when the time comes for the following elections, you’ll be a serious contender and a force to be reckoned with. You don’t have much time until the next elections, but keep your sight focused on the bigger picture and the long term goals.
So please: GO FOR IT!!!
Joseph, you alternative would make sense if we really had a system in Lebanon. Right now, any major (or not so major) decision has to be bought, bartered or muscled through. There are no real institutions outside of dynasties or personality cults. Non-participation, non-representation — this is the “system” we have today. If you really want to stop legitimizing it, you have to take it more seriously than it takes itself, use its mechanisms to undermine it.
Nadine, your post isn’t naive. It’s the simple call to get organized. I am currently abroad and can’t take part, but the point isn’t this election or the next — it’s the need to start building up our networks. Where is this silent majority we’ve been hearing about since the war, and when will it stop being silent? We know we’re out there, so why aren’t we more connected? Isqat al Nizam was a good start, especially after 2005 and its dual effect of politicizing but then polarizing the post-war generation; that attempt faltered because we couldn’t work through some fundamental questions, the same that plague the country as a whole. So I read you proposal as an opportunity for regrouping and reengaging.
I understand why your friends are telling you that it will never work. It’s because people don’t want to start hoping again, afraid of another loss. But they forget that the lost campaigns are never really losses; they get people together, they forge bonds between them, they teach new ways of organizing, they make you more ready for the next fight.
I think Nasawiya has a lot to offer the country as a model of a successful model of organization. People don’t realize that to build a network and sustain it for more than 6 months is an accomplishment in Lebanon. I hope you start from that, regardless of how many people you can convince to join you. The only real alternative is the long-term one.
i like the idea and nassawiya concept