Adonis Diaries

Paved decrepit path: Half-cooked literates trailing feudal process; (May 1, 2010)

Municipal Elections in Lebanon

In my hometown, there are obtuse half-cooked literates constituting the newer classes of feudal “bosses” running for municipal election, and forming lists of candidates:  These literates may be able to read but they don’t (at best they browse their “favorite” daily); they could write a few sentences but never do. The feudal process of packaging lists of candidates goes as follows:

The “bosses” of each list, bored and in need of occasional excitements, get together in non formal setting (custom of relaxed chattering postures go nicely with entente in town’s affairs). First, the contending bosses lukewarm attempt to form joint lists, just for the sake of confirming in their famous pamphlets that they communicated and discussed town interests but unfortunately, communication failed miserably.

Under more favorable conditions, analyzing the various pamphlets could be very interesting and an essential part of the election. I discovered that the pamphlets were similar and pretty identical; kind of copy-paste of older versions.  Programs are out of the question: they don’t rhyme with feudal prerogatives. The logic is simple “why fool the voters with programs if they don’t take them seriously? The voters have learned not to take election programs with a grain of salt; even if the candidates wished to follow a program wholeheartedly.”

The process is applying the well-tested image of feudal mentality and practices:  Candidates got to be selected from the half illiterates from the various families or clans.  Yes,  a functional municipal council requires one boss; discussions and accounting must be kept totally opaque.  Once a list is complete (in our town the council is constituted of 15 members), then “eureka”: changes are on the way with the speed of a bullet train.

Now, each boss has a roster of voters and “pointage” of the leaning of each voter is undertaken.  For example, is this voter pro or con?  Does he need special attention to pay him a visit?  Is this vote to be bought and how much?  Does this voter can lean on the larger members of the family or clan?  I was not contacted one way or the other; I guess all the bosses classified me as a definite voter for one list; that I am not a reflecting individual; that I never change my minds and that no one ever change his position in a feudal town.

Now, taxis are hired and chauffeurs are dispatched to drop the famous lists of candidate to residences; the names of the lists comes with a long trail of the names of the father and grandfathers for discrimination purposes and for the older generations to reminisce on genealogy of the town. Anyway, why exacerbate matters with CVs: candidates are simple citizens and not government members? Mystery is the best tool to win the hearts and minds of voters: the less known is the character the better to win election: The more known is the figure the more warped the picture due to accumulated calumnies and belittling chats.

In my hometown, three lists of candidates are contending for the municipal council. Each bosses of lists included two female candidates.  How could they include more than two out of 15 members?  The bosses have no business with women and don’t know the varieties of women around: obviously, no professional women advisors were deemed viable in the selection process.  You hear rumors that valiant attempts to lure women in “politics” failed.  First, have women be contacted at the beginning of the process?  Second, what kinds of politics the bosses do for the benefit of the town to encourage women to participate?  Do they contact the proper sources in power and deep pocket to promote projects?  Are they in touch with foreign embassies to arranging twin coupling with foreign municipalities?  Are they planning and allocating funds to modernizing the administration?  Do they have in mind to starting a semblance of transparency in administration, project planning, discussion, and decision-making to encourage the general public to participating in town business?

I have no intention of voting: the “bosses” of the three lists took me for granted as a stupid clannish member of the community and they didn’t find it worth it of their time to contact me or include me in the process. I met with one boss of the Tayyar at a library; he was taking video of poetry recital and his son playing flute; that was a month before election time; he didn’t know me but I recognized him; we got into talking and he promised to relay my suggestions to the coming evening meeting for selecting candidates and resuming alliance discussions.  I never heard of him. My gut feeling is that he relayed my position but the code name was: “only half-cooked literate are permitted to butt in.”

No one of the candidates in the three list cared for my opinion then, why should they care for my vote?  If I ever change my mind then I might vote for the six female candidates on the three lists: The town is want of excitements.  Deep down, I wish excitements might degenerate into immolation of a couple of town people at the alters of the Gods of Ignorance and of the Absurd.  As far as I am concerned political parties in Lebanon are not valid parties:  two cheeks of the same ass; they stink.

Note:  They claim that a stupid individual is one who talks at the wrong moment.  My problem is not discriminating what is the proper timing:  I have missed so many opportunities postponing what I had to say.  I suggest to people not to clutter their brain of what timing is proper, and just talk and get talking.  I do write all the time.