Piled up garbage is seen in Jiyeh, 20 kilometres south of Beirut. Photo: Reuters
In July 2015, tens of thousands across Lebanon took to the streets to protest.
Unlike many of their Middle Eastern counterparts who had seen demonstrations of that scale since the turn of the decade, they seemingly weren’t demanding grand political or economic concessions from their government.
They were simply demanding a solution to the local issue of waste overflow within the Naameh rubbish tip, located on the southern outskirts of Beirut.
The government promptly caved into pressure and shut the landfill site down, but as of May 2018, the government has not found a long-term alternative site or method to dispose of Beirut’s waste.
Beirut’s local rubbish situation is just a flashpoint that highlights a national political system plagued by religious sectarianism and corruption.
Lebanon’s religious diversity is heavily intertwined with its political system, as 18 recognised religious sects are represented in parliament.
Following the signing of the civil-war ending Taif Agreement in 1989, Lebanon’s confessional system was reinforced as it re-distributed power away from Maronite Christians to a growing Islamic population.
For example, the roles of president and the speaker of parliament, which by law have to be represented by a Sunni Muslim and a Shia Muslim, were granted greater executive powers.
But altering the colonial-influenced political landscape and system almost overnight inevitably led to a power vacuum.
In order to cement their precarious position in a competitive political climate, a climate that was also rife with both Christian and Islamic-based violent extremism, political leaders maintained their grip on power by establishing neo-patrimonial ties that were grounded in their religious affiliation, as these ties would remain stable due to the pronounced religious divisions in the country.
But corruption ensued as state resources were drained in order to satisfy these loyalists, which inevitability led to the government’s effectiveness and economic position deteriorating.
As a consequence, its ability to carry out essential services, like waste disposal, also deteriorated.
Therein lies the problem.
Transparency International rates Lebanon as the 143rd most corrupt country in the world out of 180 surveyed.
But despite the widespread corruption, Lebanon is the second most democratic country in the Middle East, according to the Economist’s Democracy Index.
A growing number of political scientists believe that the same neo-patrimonial relations that cultivated rampant, systemic corruption have simultaneously stabilised a vulnerable and religiously divided state, by establishing reliable financial and security networks that are grounded in rigid religious ties.
This in turn has enabled the Lebanese government to keep violent extremism from completely eroding the country’s democratic institutions.
As a result, Lebanese voters are anxious about how they might disturb this delicate balance and empower terrorist groups lurking on the periphery of Lebanon’s political sphere, like Al-Nusra, if they alter their voting patterns.
This was evident in the recent May 6 national elections, with Hezbollah, who is largely responsible for Lebanon’s primary militia against terrorism, making significant gains.
Furthermore, Saad Hariri’s Future Movement still wields the balance of power in Lebanon’s unity government, despite their major role in the widescale political corruption, including the Naameh waste saga.
POLI3022 MME Blog 