What Happened to Joumana in the Elections with 7000+ Documented Violations

It was a long and hard-fought campaign that stretched back more than a year. A group of 66 candidates with less than half a million total for the campaign, versus a mix-and-match of political money behemoths that spent tens of millions of dollars on ads, airtime and of course bribes.

Monday morning, around 5AM, every campaign, including ours, had run the numbers and double and triple checked the exit polls. What was certain, is that Kollouna Watani had secured 2 seats in the Beirut 1 District. Results that even the sulta had confirmed, even before we did.

Around 6AM though, our candidates and their representatives were kicked out of the vote counting center in the Forum de Beirut area. This came after several envelopes without the red wax seal had gotten in. Add to that an excuse that “the room doesn’t fit” (it does) and “IT problems” (weird how IT people can’t work if there’s someone overseeing them), and our candidates spent little over an hour demanding they be let in to oversee the vote counting process. It wasn’t till after 7AM that they were let in after threats to go public about this clear, abhorrent violation of the electoral law.

Before they were kicked out, we had a little over 1.6 “7asel” (threshold) which translates to two seats: Paula Yaacoubian, and Joumana Haddad. After our team was let back in, the number magically dropped from 1.6 to 1.2. In the new law, you round up or down when it’s decimal points. So, 1.6=2 and 1.2=1.

Now, if I walk into a room and see you holding a bucket of shit, then I am escorted out of the room, and when I go back in, one of the people that were inside was covered with shit, then it’s safe to assume you threw that bucket of shit on them. Same goes for the illegal and unacceptable kicking out of our candidates and reps right after mysterious, unsealed packages were brought in.

This is almost exactly what was done to Beirut Madinati. Phantom boxes, kicking out reps and candidates and a sudden change in the result.

The least that can be done, is demanding a recount that is transparent and overseen by people who don’t have a personal stake in making us lose. If this government and everyone in it has a shred of respect for the voters that pay their salaries, they will do that immediately. Our team of laywers is already laying the groundwork for our appeal for an immediate recount, if not more.

Today, our teams are continuing to follow this up and build a case. This post’s purpose was to clarify what happened in the past 48 hours. If after the recount, where we can prove there was no tampering, we still have the 1.2 instead of the 1.6, as Joumana said last night in the protest in front of the Interior Ministry, we will concede our seat. But, given the circumstances and the massive breaches of trust and protocol, we have serious doubts about what happened, and why we were kicked out, and how the results magically changed in that time.

https://www.facebook.com/GinoRaidy/videos/10160412774350080/

The Protest

After being completely demoralized, I was reinvigorated when I saw so many young people come down to protest at such short notice. My heart grew when I saw the passion and rage, but also pragmatic approach to what to do next of all the amazing boys and girls that showed up yesterday, and stayed till the early hours of the morning making their voices heard, when they felt their votes were being silenced.

Yesterday was the first step, and we will continue this struggle so the truth comes out and the voters’ decision is respected and upheld, not undermined and fabricated.

Li Baladi is here, we’re not going anywhere, and 2022 is just around the corner.

Here’s to seeing Joumana get the seat she won, and the warlords and thieves learning to respect the people’s will.

We Have Already Won

Look at how the traditional politicians have stolen our slogans and plans. Look at how they now include women, experts and programs in their campaigns. Look at how they form alliances with the devil out of fear from the independents.

Tomorrow, we will have MPs that truly represent us. How many, is up to how many of you show up and vote. If we look at 2009, what’s happening in 2018 is unbelievable. I am proud of you all, and honored to have protested, gotten beaten up and campaigned alongside all of you. You are what makes Lebanon livable and lovable. Our struggle is a long one, and we have made their octogenarian facade crack and crumble.

Tomorrow, when we wake up, something amazing will happen. Tomorrow, before we sleep, I hope the news will be extra good and surprises will be extra sweet. Next elections, our bloc will be bigger, stronger and have more impact. Till then, we need you to go out and vote tomorrow, especially in districts where good independents are running.

Rejoice. You have run the best campaign this country has ever seen, without spending taxpayer money illegally, or polluting our already toxic environments.

I am proud of you all, and love you all deeply ❤

(Originally appeared as a status on my Facebook profile on the eve of the first parliamentary elections in 9 years)

Last Minute Recommendations

If your home district has a Kollouna Watani list, vote for them. Even if the coalition is far from ideal, and some of the groups that form it are not your favorites, they are the first time a broad segment of Lebanese citizens has agreed on the broad strokes, gone a step ahead and put citizens and their rights about sectarian scaremongering and perpetuating the corruption machine.

To partisans, no one wants you to abandon part of who you are. If you identify as a Lebanese Forces supporter, or a Hezbollah supporter, a Aounist, or a Kataeb, an Amal supporter or a Kharzeh Zar2a fan, keep doing that. However, pause for a moment and think about yourself. Keep supporting them publicly, play the sectarian games in public. Tomorrow though, behind the divider, tick the box of independents, so that you can try someone new who hasn’t been ruined by the corruption curse. Try so that maybe some aspects of our lives in Lebanon become better in the next 4 years.

Take an hour out of your Sundays, and go out and vote. Please. Let’s keep this struggle going, so that 2022 looks even brighter than 2018. Do it so that in 2026, the parliament is no longer something that’s there to increase MP salaries and hike citizen taxes, but somewhere where progress is initiated, and the country we want starts to form with progressive, pragmatic legislation that we so desperately need, and of course, accountability.

Thank you for voting. Goodnight and see you at the polling stations tomorrow!

Find Out Where You Vote + Last Minute Tips on How to Vote

So, most of you know which district you are from, I hope. If not, you can find it on your ID. Of course, there are several voting stations in each town/city, and you are designated to vote in just one of them.

To find out where you and your family vote, go here and fill in your information to find out your “2alam” location and number. Usually it’s in public schools or other community buildings. If you know where your parents usually go, then you will be in the same 2alam.

Where Do I Vote?

Please go vote! It takes just a few minutes, and your vote counts under the new proportional law! Don’t do blank votes if you have good independent lists in your home district!

6 Reasons You Should Go Vote If You’re Still Not sure

The first elections are in 3 days. I say first, because it’ll be my, and probably your first time voting for parliament. The reason is because all those in power at the moment, kept extending for themselves as they increased their salaries and hiked our taxes and debt.

What’s unnerving is that the vicious propaganda machine of those in power, has been trying to smear efforts by independent candidates to represent us, the silent majority that has been oppressed and abused by the garbage governments that have kept us poor, polluted and without good Internet in extreme traffic.

This post is my last ditch effort to convince you to go and exercise your right to vote on Sunday, and not sit at home and just complain.

1- Because you’ve never voted.

Aren’t you curious? Wouldn’t you like to experience the actual voting process? Don’t you want an excuse to go see your relatives in your hometowns and have that yummy Teta food on a Sunday?

How can people who have never voted, be so adamant about not wanting to put in a few minutes to be part of the democratic process that will decide how our lives will play out for the next 4 years? Don’t you want to have a say? Even if you aren’t guaranteed a victory, wouldn’t you wanna let your unhappiness with current situation be noted?

2- It’s a new law

Despite the many issues with the current law, one good thing about it is it’s pseudo-proportional. This means that it’s not “winner-takes-all” anymore. If a party wins 51% of the seats, they get half the seats, not all of them like they used to before.

Many independent campaigns might not be able to get several tens of thousands of votes, but often you need much less in many districts for one seat or two. 1 or 2 seats that won’t be taken by commission-seeking “politicians” is 1 or 2 seats in the right direction, away from corruption and maybe even some good for us, the taxpayers.

3- Hundreds of thousands of new voters

True, old Lebanese are hopeless. They have been voting for the same warlords and thieves all their lives. However, this time around, more than 700,000 people are new voters. This means they’ve never voted. Now, many of them will be like their parents, but many others will hopefully not be. So, if someone pretends they can predict the voting behavior of such a big block of the electorate, they’re lying.

There is real hope that the younger, better educated and more open-minded voters will break away from the warlords and thieves for a change. They, and you, just need to show up and vote.

4- Your honor and self respect

How can you allow someone that has disrespected and humiliated you all your life, stolen your taxes, drowned you in garbage, robbed you of electricity, trapped you in never-ending traffic (while making money off your hardship) be elected back to the office they have been illegally occupying for 9 years?

Do you have no respect for yourself? Do you not mind being abused and stolen from and treated like garbage? Don’t you think you’ve had enough? Don’t you think it’s time to say “enough”? Would casting a vote that makes it harder for them to stay clutching onto power with their bloodstained, wrinkly hands be so hard? Are you really that demoralized and hopeless, that you’d let the warlords and thieves cruise back to power to further abuse you and your loved ones?

5- Why believe the paid media?

Remember when the hired pens of politicians accused people protesting the garbage crisis of being CIA agents? Well, guess what, the court has sentenced those disgusting creatures that call themselves “journalists” to a large fine and jail time. Sadly, most of the other journalists are the same, in bed or on the payroll of the warlords and politicians.

We all know it’s impossible to get on TV or radio without paying, and the only ones with money, are the ones that have been stealing it from us for decades. So, how can you believe the consistent lies orchestrated by the warlords and thieves and their mouthpieces on the airwaves?

You are smart, and capable of making your own decisions. Don’t listen to the paid news, but do your own research, and you will know for sure that the overwhelming majority of independent candidates are good, qualified people, unlike what the warlords and thieves media will try to paint. A few less than ideal independents, doesn’t mean we revert back to the thieves and warlords.

Don’t believe media that thinks the “sun will turn off for 7 days” is a real story. What’s wrong with you!?

6- Our chances are high

Despite the lies of the warlords and thieves, and all the money and bribes they are paying, their chances are bad. Their coalitions don’t make sense, and their supporters are realizing they are just liars seeking to stay in the seat of power. Their constituents haven’t voted in 9 years, and I know many of them feel betrayed and hopefully learned their lesson.

There are many districts where we have a real chance of 1 or 2 seats. In a country with 15 districts, a parliamentary bloc of 5, 10 or even 15 MPs is not that unbelievable anymore. We can get the 7asel in several districts, and those MPs will not only work on the projects we want, but also derail the constant assault on public money by the warlords and thieves in power right now.

Just go and vote, please, and vote independent, not just blank votes, which only help the warlords and thieves in power.

Further reading I have written in the past few weeks about the elections:

The Elections Weekend Party Schedule

As many of you might already know, the Lebanese government has banned clubbing on Saturday night, the eve of the first elections in a decade.

I will not cause a fuss about this, even though I think it is an invasion of people’s privacy, and a police-state-esque kind of decision. For one, this has always been the case on the eve of elections, and for many reasons. For two, the cops will not have time to answer calls of drunk folks beating each other up while they are preparing for a nationwide elections with so much tension. For three, we can still party earlier.

Friday May 5

überhaus presents Kosme at The Gärten

It looks like the boys and girls at uberhaus forecasted the state-enforced, elections curfew months in advance, and booked their artist for the Friday before the elections. Chapeau for not letting the government rain on our parades!

This week, the awesome Kosme headlines at The Garten, with his beautiful, groovy vibe and mood that is perfect for the summer weather we’ve been having in Beirut this week!

TIA and REA, our local sweethearts, will support Kosme under the angular pyramid we love this Friday!

RSVP here

Friday Night Live 21: Distant Echoes (Live)

I needed this night to help me get over my post-Berlin blues. After a monster extended weekend in Berlin, it’s difficult to be satisfied with lineups this week, but the guys at The Grand Factory have proven me wrong yet again, and are getting Distant Echoes for a live set at Reunion.

I absolutely adore the dark sounds and moods of Distant Echoes, just have a look at the TweakFM set from the renowned Dystopian artist.

As if that wasn’t enough, Distant Echoes will be supported by 3LIAS and 2THIRD!

RSVP and list here

Kollouna Watani Party!

The elections might be making us all angry and annoyed, but not all of the campaigns are bad news this year. Kollouna Watani is a group I am proud of supporting against the current ruling elite that stop your parties, close your clubs, arrest your friends and make us live in squalor, garbage, darkness and shitty Internet.

Come to the FREE 12-hour party by Kollouna Watani’s campaign, in Dbayeh, right behind “Bata” shoes! 15 bands and performers will make the night one to remember, and the first elections-themed event you actually want to go to. Party starts at 7PM, and ends at 7AM! So, come through, and let’s have a civilized discussion about the future of a Lebanon we want, as we are serenaded by local bands and artists!

Secret Walls x Mad House

After more than 2000 shows in 80 cities the past 11 years, Secret Walls is back to Beirut for another round of the live art competition. If you don’t know what Secret Walls is, the premise is simple: two artists (or teams of artists), one white wall, lots of markers and acrylic paint, and 90 minutes to create something awesome live.

You will get to witness how kickass artists do it, and their entire creative process. Tickets are for just 10$, and event starts at 8PM so you have plenty of time to go dance later.

RSVP here

Saturday

Arbat / Jan Blomqvist (LIVE) at OCEANA (C U NXT SAT)

It’s going to take a lot more than a curfew to stop the party at C U NXT SAT. Even though we can’t spend the night at The Grand Factory this Saturday, The Grand Factory has moved this week’s C U NXT SAT to the Oceana Beach resort. This means that Jan Blomqvist’s dreamy live set will happen at sunset, right next to the beach *goosebumps*. After that much anticipate Beirut return of Jan Blomqvist, Artbat will take to the decks and party the night away till it’s time to go sleep and wake up fresh to go vote on Sunday morning!

If you don’t feel like driving, Uber will give you a 50% discount on your ride to and from Oceana. Just use the promo code “CUOceana” when you order your Uber!

RSVP here

Jezzine’s New Hub: An EU Initiative to Help Lebanese Youth Prosper in their Hometowns

In the past few weeks, I’ve been highlighting amazing success stories across Lebanon that aim to improve life for Lebanese communities across the country. From Khaldieh, a rose farmer in Akkar, to 24/7 electricity thanks to a solar farm in Qabrikha, what those projects have in common is that they are funded and supported by the European Union in Lebanon.

Today’s highlight is one of my favorites, and it’s the Jezzine Hub. The Jezzine Hub is a community center and incubator that seeks to help nascent businesses and social enterprises in the area to kick off their careers and businesses, many of which center around improving their communities.

Two examples of such projects that have been awarded 10,000 Euro grants recently, are “Pometto” apple chips, and “Jezzine by Bike”. I’ve personally tried Pometto, and the preservative-free, no added sugar and gluten-free chips were absolutely fantastic. I hope to try Jezzine by Bike next time I’m in that beautiful town south of Lebanon.

Helping students get into the right universities, holding capacity-building workshops and securing funds for local businesses to expand nationally and around the world, is precisely what Lebanon needs more of. Young people shouldn’t be forced to leave their hometowns to emigrate or move to overcrowded cities to secure a decent living, and I love what the Jezzine Hub has been doing, which you can check on their Facebook page here.

EU in Lebanon: Ain Qana’s New Football Field and Academy

Sports has an incredible effect on communities. Whether it’s your love for the team you support, or the discipline, camaraderie and good sportsmanship needed to excel at it, sports, and football specifically, has a very special place in many Lebanese people’s heart.

In Ain Qana, Ali and many other local residents used to play mini-football games on dirt, make-shift playgrounds. The village in Lebanon’s Nabatieh district was a good 90 minute drive from the closest equipped, well-lit and affordable mini-football field.

With funding from the European Union, Ali was able to realize his and his father’s dream of creating the perfect mini-football field that young Ain Qana residents can benefit from. It didn’t stop there though, Ali also founded a mini-football academy in the beautiful rural town of Ain Qana, where many youngsters are enrolled today and honing their football skills.

I cannot stress how important team sports can be in building trust and a sense of fair play and just pure fun. I’ve seen the positive effects of mini-football in Tripoli, where friendly games between former combatants has helped shore up the peace and create some lighthearted fun in an otherwise hectic and stressful life.

Boiler Room x Ballantine’s Beirut

What a massive night it was. Beirut’s True Music Boiler Room x Ballantine’s was definitely the largest Boiler Room event I’ve ever been to in 5 cities in 4 different countries. It was also the most special, with several friends featured on the lineup.

The Venue

Perhaps the nicest surprise of all was the impressive venue. It’s a bare concrete warehouse, with thick walls and concrete pillars riddled with bullet holes and shrapnel damage from the days of the war. It has the industrial, stripped-down, derelict vibe that ravers everywhere will instantly fall in love with and wanna throw a party in, which is exactly what happened. Also, apart from a wedding or two, this is the first time someone uses the space for a proper party, much less a Boiler Room one!

The Lineup

Zeid and Mai

The night kicked off with the act that probably fits the “True Music: Hybrid Sounds” theme of this tour best: Zeid and Mai. The merging of live and electronic elements in their live performance was breathtaking, and had the audience pause, sway and watch intently as the Egypto-Lebanese duo took the stage and did their thing.

Jad Taleb

Next was Beirut’s very own Jad Taleb with a DJ set that included the bold choice of playing The Prodigy’s “Firestarter”, which was a nod to the 90s and the influence electronic music of the time still has on today’s productions and tastes. It was something special seeing a homegrown talent get to shine on the Boiler Room platform, and right here from Beirut.

Dollkraut

Another hybrid performance of the night was Dollkraut, the magician on the synths was joined by his band, and performed an hour at the massive concrete hangar in the heart of Beirut. The night’s flow went back from full-on rave, back to a more attentive and observant crowd, trying to place Dollkraut’s sound on the musical spectrum and enjoying every second of it. I’ll be posting a special interview I did with Dollkraut here soon!

3LIAS

3LIAS is a main character that has been instrumental in Beirut’s electronic music scene since its early days in the late 1990s. The Lebanese DJ and producer that’s played everywhere from the US, Europe, the Far East and of course the clubbing Arab World. 3LIAS has a diverse range of weaponry in his arsenal, and he’s never afraid to step out of what you’d expect of him depending on the mood and the direction the crowd he was handed was in. I’ve had the pleasure to see him play more times than I can even count, but his set at Boiler Room was definitely the highlight of my Boiler Room x Ballantine’s Lebanese leg. Stay tuned for an amazing, in-depth interview with 3LIAS really soon.

Chaos in the CBD

This kiwi duo’s perfromance was a lot of fun, and I had a blast hanging out with them at the WH Hotel before the show. I’ll be publishing their interview on the blog soon. You’ll be surprised that they admitted “CBD” doesn’t stand for “Cannabidiol” as you might expect, but “Central Business District” which is the part in Auckland where all the clubs are located. Go figure!

Chaos in the CBD helped remind me why I love House music, despite my overwhelmingly Techno-skewed clubbing schedule and inclination. It was a pleasure having them in Beirut for the first time!

Miss Kittin

Miss Kittin was the cherry on top of an amazing night. I enjoyed her set the most, and it was definitely the peak of the night for me. The crowd was electric, having been buttered up by five amazing acts, they were ready for the Miss Kittin treatment to wrap it up. Her singing on the microphone coupled with her performance was sublime. I highly recommend you watch the video above if you weren’t lucky enough to be there.

Stay Tuned

For exclusive interviews with Miss Kittin, Chaos in the CBD, Dollkraut and 3LIAS!

Vote Kelna Beirut in Beirut 2

Even though I announced my Beirut 1 endorsement more than a week ago, I was still looking into Beirut’s second district and got the chance to sit with and talk to several candidates from more than one list. Today, I am excited to endorse the Kelna Beirut list in Beirut’s second district.

The video they released yesterday sums up what the list believes in and wants to focus on. You can watch here:

A couple of things were striking in the video. The first is perhaps the brutal chastisement of some of the security apparatuses and judiciary in reference to the Ziad Itani fabrication and wrongful imprisonment. Another was the refugee-friendly message, in a week xenophobic rhetoric against refugees is skyrocketing by establishment political parties to pander to sectarian paranoia ahead of the polling stations opening. Their pro-free speech, pro-women’s rights messages were also loud and clear. They even mentioned Beirut’s heritage sites and historic buildings, that the current regime’s coalition has systematically destroyed and replaced with disgusting, unaffordable slabs of concrete and colored glass.

It’s unfortunate that a broader consensus didn’t include B2 like it did in 9 out of the 15 districts in Lebanon, but Kelna Beirut is a robust group of people that are in favor of individual freedoms, drastic reforms, equality and a secular, civil Lebanon.

They’re also competing against a significant concentration of traditionally ultra-partisan communities that have historically been loyal to big, traditional political parties currently complicit in the robbing of public money and slowly killing their taxpayers with garbage, poverty and darkness.

Ibrahim Mneimneh is a name you might remember from Beirut Madinati’s fantastic performance in the 2016 municipal elections, and is one of the prominent names on that list. It’s refreshing to see candidates and campaigns that are openly with civil marriage and civil personal status laws, as well as other much-needed progressive reforms.

If you’re a voter, especially a first time voter, you need to go out and vote on May 6. Blank ballots are of course your right and choice, but it’s important you understand a blank vote only helps established parties under this law, and makes it harder for independent initiatives to make the threshold.

Good luck to all independent campaigns across the country. We’re counting on you guys to actually show up and vote!

Vote Kollouna Watani in North 3 (Zgharta, Koura, Batroun, Bsharre)

We now come to my home district of North 3, which includes Zgharta (my hometown), Koura, Batroun and Bsharre. This is one of the toughest districts, given how most presidential hopefuls are from this district: Gebran Bassil, Sleiman Frangieh and Samir Geagea. In other words, they are pulling all stops and doing everything they can to try and give legitimacy to their presidential bid claims.

It took a lot of self-reflection before taking this decision, after all, many friends and even relatives are running on lists supported or formed by traditional political parties like the FPM, LF and Marada. However, this isn’t a night out clubbing, and it’ll take more than friendships and kinship to get my vote.

Before going into why I am voting for Kollouna Watani, let’s just take a moment to reflect on how absurd the traditional political parties alliances are in the North’s 3rd district.

Tony Frangieh, a staple from the March 8 alliance, is now allied with Boutros Harb, a pioneer in the March 14 one. I guess their mutual hatred of Bassil can make anyone become friends.
As for Michel Mawad, another fellow Zghartawi who has made a name for himself opposing Hezbollah’s hegemony, is running with Hezbollah’s number one ally: the Aounists.
The Kataeb, who I was excited were pulling away from the sulta forces, and traditional right-wing allies like the Lebanese Forces, have teamed up together even though they’re competing in most other districts.

This goes to show that the traditional political parties couldn’t give less of a fuck about their stated goals and principles, they just want as many seats as they can get, no matter how they get them, to ensure they get a piece of the corruption pie and bloated salaries for life (even after death).

Why I’m Voting Kollouna Watani

I am voting for them because I want change. I want progress. Political dynasties aren’t exactly incubators of change, they’re a relic from Lebanon’s feudal ages we can’t seem to shake off for some reason.

I am not supporting Kollouna Watani in some districts, because I am not an automaton that follows party leaders wishes without any critical thinking or personal opinions, however, in my home district, they represent everything I want to see my hometown become.

They might be from groups I don’t completely see eye to eye with on many issues, like Mouwatinon wa Mouwatinat (Charbel Nahhas), Sabaa and former Aounists who broke away from the FPM in light of their party’s performance and direction the past few years. However, they have adopted and vowed to fight for progressive reforms, such as gender equality, abolishing Article 534, civil personal status laws, Lebanese women passing citizenship down to their children and spouses, ending the bloated benefits and salaries of MPs and more.

They’re also taking a brave stance in an otherwise extremely conservative region, where family ties and sectarian considerations often come before the individual’s rights and desires. In my hometown of Zgharta, I know how difficult it is to run for elections when you’re not the “head” of one of the large families there. I know how much of an uphill battle it is to run when you’re from the district of Zgharta, but not the capital city where I’m from (rural vs urban voter type of thing).

This needs to change though, and the only way that will happen is by consistently trying to. An impressive 25% result in Zgharta’s municipal elections was the start, and this elections should be the continuation, if not to win the majority of the seats, to take count of how many people like me are no longer satisfied with business as usual, and want our district to join the 21st century and get past the feudal system and conservative obstacles in the way of progress in our beloved North of Lebanon’s third district.

If you’re from Zgharta, Bsharre, Koura or Batroun, then I urge you to vote Kollouna Watani. White ballots only help the sulta, so let’s make our voice heard after a decade of being forcibly silenced.