Summary
The Lebanese Parliament, which has failed to elect a president for almost six months but has managed to extend its own mandate for the second time in 15 months, has once again shown its disregard for constitutional deadlines.
It is more likely that the dominant political parties are either too busy to run an electoral campaign or too worried about the outcome of the results.
Consequently, there is very little policy debate on social issues that concern citizens.
According to a recent survey, 9,000 people, or a mere 0.3 percent of the population, controls 52 percent of the Lebanon's wealth. In other words, 99.7 percent of citizens share the remaining 48 percent.
This does not mean that elections should not be held; on the contrary, Lebanon needs to hold meaningful elections where the outcomes are not predetermined and votes are counted through a proportional representation system that allows new parties to join the policymaking process. We need a parliament that prioritizes national policies and is not in the business of buying political loyalty through clientelism.
It is through real competition and debate on public issues that policies can be formulated which serve citizens.
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