VOTES UP FOR GRABS IN ‘ANYTHING GOES’ LEBANON
by Rita Daou

Agence France Presse
May 14 2009

Natasha Tavoukdjian couldn’t care less about politics but will
be more than happy to vote in Lebanon’s election thanks to the
all-expenses-paid trip offered by one of the parties.

"I haven’t been home in 10 years and I am so looking forward to coming
back to Lebanon and the friends that I miss," said the 35-year-old
Lebanese who lives in Europe.

She said the Tashnak Armenian party in the Hezbollah-led opposition
had contacted her six months ago to secure her vote.

"They’ve asked me to vote for their candidate, whose name I don’t even
know," Tavoukdjian told AFP by telephone. "I don’t care about politics
but I’ll do it because I just want to see my family and friends."

School tuition, medical aid, fuel, airline tickets and cash: it’s
all fair game in Lebanon when it comes to winning votes for the June
7 parliamentary election.

"Money is a key factor in this country because the rule of law does
not exist," said Charles Chartouni, political science professor at
the Lebanese University.

"In the West, such practices would automatically invalidate the entire
election process."

A Western diplomat, on condition of anonymity, told AFP he had received
reports that 5,000 Lebanese living in Australia were being flown in
to take part in the vote.

The election pits the Western-backed parliamentary majority against
a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.

Many Lebanese expats are also flying in from other countries as
legislation bars them from casting absentee ballots.

Although political parties categorically deny doling out money and
services in exchange for votes, the practice of hiring middle men to
win over voters is well-rooted in Lebanon and rampant at each election.

Regulatory laws are also loosely drafted allowing for such practices.

"I have no reason to believe that this long-standing tradition has
changed this year," said Information Minister Tarek Mitri.

"These people are active and visible, and realistically I would
not expect radical change in the behaviour of both candidates and
electors."

Boulos, a 42-year-old voter in the northern district of Akkar, told
AFP he was grateful for leaders such as parliamentary majority head
Saad Hariri, son and political heir of slain billionaire ex-premier
Rafiq Hariri.

"Thank God for Hariri!" said Boulos, who did not want his last name
used. "One of his MPs sends us a monthly allowance for food."

Mark Daher, 37, said he also felt compelled to vote for the candidate
backed by Hariri’s coalition. "I have to do it," he told AFP. "They
found my wife a job this year."

Imad, a contractor who also did not want his full name revealed,
said he intended to vote for Hezbollah’s candidates as the party had
invested 50,000 dollars in development projects in his hometown.

Vote-buying can also take the form of the payment of school fees,
distribution of medicines and even the organisation of health
campaigns, said Yara Nassar of the Lebanese Association for Democratic
Elections (LADE), which is monitoring the polls.

"A candidate offered my school 2,000 litres of fuel oil for heating
this winter," said Tarek Nassif, a 40-year-old teacher. "It was very
generous but why didn’t he do that last year?"

Experts said regional powers had also contributed handsomely to the
vote-buying spree in a bid to boost their political allies in Lebanon.

"Some countries such as Saudi Arabia or Iran finance election
campaigns," said Chartouni, the university professor.

Mitri, however, was hopeful that tighter regulations and more public
awareness would gradually lead to more transparent elections in
Lebanon.

"I think the more we document and talk about this, the more we open
the eyes of public opinion and the more chance we have of combating
this ill," Mitri said.