Lebanese Forces... Alone in the Middle of the Storm?!

 
Source: Al-Manar TV, 18-3-2009

The Lebanese Forces is facing hard times in its race to parliament as even allies are keeping distance from LF candidates.

The party had joined the March 14 bloc with the big hope of becoming a hard number in the Lebanese political scene by contending the Christians' real representatives. However, today the Lebanese Forces seems less confident at a time the party is spearing no effort to persuade its allies to register LF candidates on their electoral lists.

The party, that once pledged to "duplicate" its representatives in Parliament, has been engaged in a fierce fight to maintain the five of six seats after MP Edmond Neim passed away.

"The maximum number of seats for the Lebanese Forces in the next Parliament would be 3," expert in electoral affairs Abdo Saad told Al-Manar. According to Saad, two seats are guaranteed for the LF in Bsherri, believed to be their main stronghold. A third seat could be secured in the Shouf district, a Progressive Socialist Party stronghold, in case the head of the Democratic Gathering MP Walid Jumblatt approves the candidacy of the LF Maronite MP George Adwan.
So far, Jumblatt prefers National Liberal Party chief Dory Chamoun to run for the Maronite seat in Chouf.

Saad noted that the competition would be fierce in other districts and "Batroun's MP Antoine Zahra might lose his seat and the same goes for Koura's MP Farid Habib. The LF potential candidate in the Metn district, Eddie Abi El-Lamaa, has no big chances due to the fierce competition with the rival bloc, the Free Patriotic Movement."

In front of such "melancholic" picture for the LF, the party has to ask about the reasons that make "allies" treat it so stingily...

The LF current electoral map seems to be limited to Bsherri, where the two MPs Strida Tawq Geagea and Elie Kayrouz are set to preserve their seats. However, winning another seat depends on the "allies," mainly on MP Walid Jumblatt who still prefers to nominate Chamoun over Adwan. According to reports, a compromise is in the making between LF and the Future Movement to trade Adwan in Chouf for military expert Wehbe Qatisha in Akkar, the Future movement stronghold.

Hence, the Lebanese Forces will not be in its best shape in the upcoming elections. According to observers, the LF will recalculate its stature within the March 14 alliance; not only the Lebanese Forces but other powers in this bloc that have been under the mercy of the Jumblatt-Hariri management of elections.

LEBANESE FORCES AGAINST LOWERING VOTING AGE TO 18

After studying the pros and cons of lowering the voting age to 18, the Lebanese Forces declared its position that rejects youths take part in the democratic process. The LF position was not in line with that of its allies in the March 14 bloc or that of the opposition.

Parliament is set to discuss on Thursday election-related issues, on the top of which is the draft law calling for lowering voting age to 18.
If the law were adopted, the age group 18 will be able to vote at the next municipality elections in 2010.