Saturday, May 2, 2026

Presidential ad - reaffirming positions

There are several ads in town featuring our president. For anyone a bit lost here's the gist of it: Lebanon is having direct negotiations with Israel. Hizbollah does not concede to the existence of such a nation. So the country is torn in between those saying that the negotiations are asymmetrical and irrelevant and obviously an act of treason, and those saying that the country needs to get down from its high horse and face the music as is and try to limit damages as much as possible.

The president and the head of the cabinet (respectively Joseph Aoun and Nawwaf Salam) are of the latter's opinion. Hence the ad in question all over town. "Joseph Aoun... The decision is Lebanon's" - to begin with the ad is not signed (neither by the presidency nor any other official or unofficial body) and it says what it wants to say obliquely (and smartly one has to admit). Because what is left unsaid is "the decision is not for any non-governmental actor with arms but rather with the state itself". As I said, it leaves a lot suggested, but it implies all of it.

Of course, buying ads on networks costs money, so it would have been interesting to know who paid for it just as an act of transparency.