Future Movement Builds Own Telecommunication Network!?

The Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar quoted officials and workers in what it described as a major information technology firm in Lebanon as saying that the Mustakbal (Future) movement has requested the firm to build a private telecommunications network for "electoral purposes." According to the daily, the same sources confirmed that the required funding has been allocated and the Future movement is counting on the company to finish its job before May.

General elections are due in June.

A well known telecommunications technology firm, ICC has begun working on the Future Movement project, the daily quoted officials in the company.

It added that one of the technicians explained that the project aims at linking Future Movement offices across Lebanon.

"It is not necessary for the company to have good reputation for the Future Movement to choose it. Perhaps there are other more encouraging reasons. The Engineering Sector chief in the Future Movement, Mrs. Bouchra Itani, is the head of the company and this would facilitate things more, especially that the job must be done one month before elections, as one of the workers in the company said," the Al-Akhbar said.

It added: "When we sough information from Mrs. Itani, she told Al-Akhbar: ‘Sorry, I can't give you details about the project.' She even refused to talk about the technical part saying ‘it is a delicate and private issue which I can't give you any details about since the work has kicked off. One of the workers in the company, a Future Movement member as well, said that work will start soon in the Bekaa region. It is worth mentioning that most technicians in the company are Future Movement members."

According to the daily, the sources said that the project would cost more than a million dollars and would be completed in May.

"If we take for granted that this network is for pure electoral purposes, the electoral law endorsed in parliament on the 30th of October last year had created ‘the electoral campaigns monitoring panel' based on suggestions by the Fouad Boutros panel. The panel is mandated to control electoral expenditures and building a private communications network to link party offices, is not expected to be considered within the sanctioned limit for electoral expenditures," Al-Akhbar concluded.