2024-04-27 02:01:06
Without contradicting expectations, the political class, with its various branches and colors, raised the curtain on what was called the “extension game”, by approving the extension of municipal and elective councils for the third consecutive year, under the pretext of the security conditions resulting from the ongoing war in the south, alongside the Israeli war once morest Gaza, which is the third pretext behind which power hides, following having previously resorted to economic conditions, and before that to elections legislative, simply to legitimize the postponement of the elections.
Although the extension recognizes what looks like a “tacit collusion” between the different parties, including those who spoke out in opposition, without showing any “prior” desire to run for office, or at the very least mobilize their electoral machines, its approval constitutes an “ideal opportunity” to once once more open a “bazaar” between political forces, with all the “populism” it conveys, which some seek to “exploit” during the next elections, since the presidential elections in progress until the next legislative elections. elections.
This issue was clearly demonstrated through the “public” debate between the leader of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nabih Berri, but even more through the “implicit” debate between Geagea and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. of the “Free Patriotic Movement”, former minister Gebran Bassil, who was placed somewhere in the “accused dock”, given that he sided with the “Shiite duo” despite all the differences with them , and provided him with the voices he needed to pass the expansion.
While some of Bassil’s opponents attributed his position to his “fear” of a decline in his popular popularity in favor of the “Forces”, going so far as to speak of a “price in exchange” that he had obtained, in the context of a “counterpart” whose chapters will be revealed later, many question marks arise regarding the “consequences” of the session. The extension is at the political level, so how does the Free Patriotic Current read the outcome of this session? Can we say that Basil came out as a “loser” at the popular level?
In principle, and whatever the position of the Free Patriotic Current, the reality of its position and the role it played in the adoption of the third extension of the municipalities, those who are in the know say that everyone, from near or far, knew from the first moment that the extension would “pass” and that all political forces without exception were ready to adopt it if some preferred to “invest” in the issue to obtain political gains, short or long term. long term, as long as the adoption of the extension law was “guaranteed”, without them having to vote for it.
Experts point out that the best proof of this is that no one has started to seriously prepare for the municipal and elective elections, even though the government announced that it would carry out the required administrative procedures and that the Minister of the Interior and Municipalities of interim government, Bassam Mawlawi, began to issue decrees calling for electoral bodies, even if these decrees were considered “formal”, because all preparations remained “confined”, without any electoral machine moving, as if all the world was in the atmosphere of “what was written was written.”
It is no secret in this context that the situation in the south, even if it was exceptional and delicate, was only a “pretext” behind which the political forces used it, believing that it constitutes a “more justifiable reason” for postponement. that all the reasons that were adopted previously, knowing that those concerned were clear that there were “exits”, such as the “postponement” of elections exclusively in areas of military confrontation, which is authorized by the law, which does not require elections to take place. take place throughout Lebanon in a single day or in a single period.
In this sense, those in the know say that all the talk regarding rejecting “partition”, or even regarding refusing to give the impression that the South is an “isolated island”, has not seemed convincing to “justify” the extension, even if it is an impression that has been present since the start of the war in the south, while in other regions it continues its life as if nothing had happened, especially since t there was a “precedent” in the 1998 elections, when elections in the south took place. postponed until following the end of the occupation, although some argue that current conditions do not resemble those before the liberation.
In general, if it was “fixed” from the first day that the extension would be adopted, what was not “fixed” was the position of the “Free Patriotic Current” in particular, whose position was surrounded by a ” constructive ambiguity”, before finally “reproducing” a “scenario” last year, obtaining the necessary votes for the extension, based on the “equation” according to which the choice is not between extension and elections, but rather between extension and vacancy, even if with this position, it “leaps” above the government which claims to be capable of completing services on time.
In this context, those affiliated with the “Free Patriotic Current” do not hesitate to defend its position, far from the “populism” adopted by others, as they describe it, because they say that everyone knows that the possibility of organizing municipal elections under the current circumstances were not possible, as evidenced by the fact that its supposed date was only a matter of days and that no one had prepared for it, which means that not approving the law of extension would have led to “chaos and emptiness” in the world. municipalities, which would have negative consequences on citizens.
Proponents of the “current” view reject anything said regarding its popular loss due to its stance on the extension issue, as they point out that the street realizes that those who oppose the extension extension are those who “deceive”. ” with ideals that cannot be deceived, knowing that the “current” once proved this position. Another is that he acts according to what the “national interest” dictates, far from any “personal” considerations, especially since he was. capable of using his “rivalry” with “Hezbollah” to cancel the extension, “to annoy him”.
However, this position of the “current” does not resonate with opponents, who consider that the problem with this “logic” is that it ignores the fact that Bassil might be more willing to extend the extension than the “duo” itself. even, as the latter can manage its affairs in the event that municipal elections take place today, even if it was preoccupied by the flamboyant Southern Front, while the “real impasse” would be confronted with the “current”, each of which knows that his popular position has been in steady decline since the parliamentary elections, which might be “exposed” by any popular right taking place today.
Furthermore, opponents of the “current” do not hesitate to speak of a “quid pro quo” behind Bassil’s position, given that the latter is used to “paying the price” for his positions, knowing that there is those who say that the prize was won in advance during the Engineers’ Union elections, while others tend to believe that it was received in the form of “promises” regarding the approaching presidential elections , especially since the “current” has become convinced that the “crossroads” with the opposition has become a novelty, and that “opening” to the “duo” has become its only option.
In any case, it doesn’t matter whether the Free Patriotic Current wins or loses, and on the other hand, whatever the “investment” of this team, and all the one-upmanship and all the populism that cannot be denied, which What is certain is that the remaining Lebanese are the “biggest losers”, and they were forced to stay another year. Renewable, of course, at the “mercy” of municipal councils, most of which, according to their members, are either dissolved, paralyzed, or quite simply. unable!
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