Elections 2022: Al Mustaqbal the most efficient campaign (that never was)

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In 2018, Al Mustaqbal misfired with a silly campaign (I awarded it worst campaign for a political party - here). Thankfully this year, their campaign is brilliant - they did not do any. This is not sarcasm just to be clear. But the head of Al Mustaqbal movement, Saad Hariri himself, decided to boycott the elections (initiate the "moukata3a").

With him the domino fell in the Sunnite sect. No matter how others - related or unrelated to the movement, officially or unofficially, Saudi-backed or not - have tried to rally the Sunnites around them, there is still this major feeling of flop.

Many Sunnites are all out with the "moukata3a la 3younak" slogan. Again, the beauty of it is that all this is coming from supporters, not from the machinary of the Mustaqbal movement. Just to explain, "la 3younak" was a jingle by singer Ahmad Kaabour for Future Television back when it was setting the pace for what good, creative television was. "La 3younak" means "for your eyes". And it transcended the television which was owned by Rafic Hariri (father of Saad) to become the slogan his supporters "cuddle" him with (see the original here),

Funnily some supporters went all out to poke on the Lebanese Forces campaign (see here) with "we can cast our ballots, we just don't want to".

Hariri - father and son: Same sentence, different wordings.

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

November 2004, Rafic Hariri:

إني استودع الله هذا الوطن الحبيب لبنان

July 2021, Saad Hariri:

الله يعين البلد

The first sentence roughly means "I place this beloved country as a deposit in the hands of God", the second "may God help this country".

Essentially, the late father, and the son (both were head of governments as it seems hereditary in Lebanon), were saying the same thing in different words. But it also underscores what the father had and the son lacked: An incredible charisma. When his guard was down, Rafic Hariri was a very likeable man. Asked during an interview what he did when he got he did when he earned his first million, he said "I went to the mirror and patted my own shoulder, and then I said "now go and lose a few kilos!"". So again, whereas the two men meant the same thing, one - the father - was able to articulate it in a way that still resonates, worded it in a very languishingly eloquent way. The son was more blunt.

Perhaps - sometimes - it is all in the way one puts things, as the message will still be understood.

(Disclosure: I have interviewed Saad Hariri previously on one on one basis for a project pertaining to a client of mine)

Lebanon, deja vu, and reloading the matrix

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

Oh you know the drill. When you experience deja vu, it means they are reloading the matrix. Well, here we are a full year after the thawra, with the old familiar faces back in tow. No need to name them, you know the names. And that, much like the incredible Patrick Berberis film about the year 68 in the world, is a testament of how people favor what they know to the risk of a new scary possibility of total change.

Is change coming to Lebanon? Who knows? All I can say is that for all their good intentions, I see no concrete results on what thawra did. To be clear, am not blaming them for the financial mess (it was a matter of time before things exploded), and considering we tried before them in 2005 somehow the result was predictable. Now of course, if Saad Hariri manages to form a super stellar government which will boost the economy, create 900,000 jobs (his words not mine) among other promises, then who am I to argue?

Meanwhile, if he - or any other politician for that matter - manages to find the meds am looking for to insure the daily doses my mother takes, then am all ears and two hearing aids on top. I said it before, and will repeat it again:

"Il faut cultiver notre jardin" (we must cultivate our garden) said Voltaire at the end of Candide. No better, he said "Oui, mais il faut cultiver notre jardin" (yes, but we must cultivate our garden) in reply to Pangloss demagogic statements.

Right now, regardless which politician is in a position of power, what am doing is trying to build a financial policy for 2021, all while knowing the parameters are changing (yes, this includes the now reversed decision to stop Lebanese Pound cash withdrawal), and securing meds and preparing the house for winter and what not.

And if any politician wants to pitch in on the med list, feel free to contact me. Blue/Red pills not included.