From Cabbage to Politics

Until now the only way I’ve eaten cabbage is boiled, usually on St. Patrick’s day or with Polish sausage. But I’ve joined the cabbage leaf revolution! I first had it raw with Tabouli, a traditional Lebanese salad made primarily with burghal (type of wheat) and chopped parsley. Instead of eating with utensils, we simply broke off a piece of cabbage leaf and scooped up the salad with it.
I recently discovered a second use for the refreshing cabbage leaves. Because many dishes come with types of bread, and subsequently a high intake of carbs, I decided to use cabbage leaves as an alternative to bread. Instead of a turkey sandwich on white or wheat, change it up by wrapping your meat and extras in a leaf of cabbage. 100 grams of cabbage, which I am assuming is about 3 big leaves, adds up to 24 calories instead of the 80-100 for 2 slices of bread. And its surprisingly tasty!

So – this is what you’ve all been waiting for: my views on the Lebanese presidential elections! I’m 98% positive that none of the local news channels are covering the complexities of the elections and I would be surprised if BBC world news was covering it at length. So, let me give you a run-down.

In Lebanon, the parliament elects the president – not the people. Of course citizens vote for their parliamentarians, but they have no direct say in the election of the President. This is not to say that it is a silent process. On the contrary, the elections have been successful in fomenting emotions. In day-to-day events it is most apparent in the lack of political advertisement and propaganda.

Most political tension comes from the disagreements between the pro-Syrian (March 8 coalition) and anti-Syrian (March 14 coalition) camps. Syria occupied Lebanon for 29 years until withdrawing in 2003 when riots broke out after the assassination for Former PM Rafik Hariri. Syria was accused of being involved with the assassination, although it strongly denied the allegations. The resulting rift was a division between those parties that continued alliances with Syria and those opposed to Syrian interference in Lebanese politics.

Current president, Emile Lahoud, is pro-Syrian. His term was extended for three years after pressure from Syria. The decision to extend president Lahoud’s term was heavily criticized by anti-Syrian politicians, and now the anti-Syrian groups are ready to elect someone uninfluenced by Syria. This desire to elect an anti-Syrian president may be blocked by the ambitions of the pro-Syrian camp and Syria itself.

Election day was set for Sept. 25, but House Speaker Berri postponed until Oct. 23, when and if the camps could settle their differences. This decision came after months of dispute over how the elections would precede. In Lebanon’s constitution the first round of votes will only result in a president if it passes with a 2/3s vote. All other rounds of votes, if they do not yield an agreement, can pass with a simple majority. However, the issue now is not over the actual voting in elections, but the needed quorum - the amount of parliamentarians in attendence to begin elections. The constitution does not stipulate if a 2/3s quorum or a simple majority quorum is needed to begin the election process.

Pro-Syrian Berri proposed that a 2/3’s quorum is needed and the Majority party welcomed dialogue but has not agreed to any required quorum. However, anti-Syrian groups boycotted the election and parliament was consequently lacking the needed quorum. There has been no agreement on a unity government, a compromise candidate or on quorum. For these reasons the elections were postponed until next month.

During the dispute over the issue of quorum, there was talk of the two camps agreeing on a compromise candidate. The problems with the compromise candidate include the lack of both camps publicly stating what their qualifications for the president are, and not officially putting forth candidates with a platform or a vision.

The prospect of compromise seems bleak, and it will be interesting to see how the situation develops as the Oct. 23 comes closer. For now the camps continue to accuse each other of trying to pull a political coup and not respect the wishes of the other. The deadlock is setting the region up for violent eruption, or possible intervention by another state – namely Syria. Although this is highly unlikely, I do not think that Syria is willing to let a staunchly anti-Syrian candidate be elected thereby limiting Syria’s influence in Lebanese politics. If Lebanon seemed to be dissolving into sectarian disputes, I’m sure Syria would love to take on the responsibility of “stabilizing” the country. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that and that the international community keeps giving Lebanon the support it needs to get past these petty disputes.

Whew! I tried giving the least confusing run-down possible, but if anyone has questions just let me know! If anything I will provide links to new sources giving the best views of the crisis. If you want to read up on it the Daily Star always has great coverage!

Moving on, Alex and I went out to a club last night called White. It’s a restaurant/bar/nightclub. We sat down with some Lebanese and American friends for drinks. Then we joined in on the dancing when the music picked up. It was a beautiful place – with no roof because it was on the rooftop of an eight story building. It was fun to get all dressed up and stay out all night!

Other than that our lives have been pretty standard. Alex started classes this past week – econometrics is already kicking his ass. But he’s doing great and studying so much!

Today is all about relaxing and preparing for the week ahead! I’m getting ready to make brownies – always a treat – and Alex and I are going out to dinner and we’re having Lebanese cuisine! Hope to hear from everyone and all the interesting things happening outside of the Middle East. We miss home and everyone back in the US!