He threatens voters and opposition candidates as a result of criticism leveled against him
Nepotism and threats are Hezbollah's weapon in the Lebanese elections
Hezbollah controls state policy in Lebanon.
AFP
Welham suffers from a lack of customers as a result of the collapse in the value of the Lebanese pound.
AFP
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During the period leading up to the happy Eid al-Fitr, the Lebanese woman (Mona), who has been a teacher in Lebanon for 30 years, was forced to work in a car garage to get a wage added to her meager salary in order to meet her living needs, as the value of her salary became less than 150 dollars.
After the economic crisis that has afflicted Lebanon for years, and the collapse of the value of the Lebanese pound, this teacher, who only revealed her first name (Mona), says: “The only people who were able to buy the necessities of Eid this year are the followers of (Hezbollah),” referring to the party’s supporters. The Lebanese, backed by Iran, controls Lebanese politics.
And (Mona) adds that in this country that has been in deterioration for a long time, in which the head of cabbage is sold in several parts, “Hezbollah’s supporters spend the 100,000-pound banknotes without accounting, while the rest of us are barely able to buy the basics.” .
Areas traditionally dominated by Hezbollah, such as the city of Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon, where Mina lives, are among the worst-affected.
But most experts expect that Hezbollah and its allies will retain the parliamentary majority in the general elections scheduled for next week, the first since the collapse of the economy in 2019, after anti-corruption demonstrations and a devastating explosion in 2020, which destroyed large parts of the capital, Beirut. and 215 people were killed.
The new government will face the daunting task of negotiating with the International Monetary Fund the economic reform needed to obtain billions of dollars in loans and aid for Lebanon.
Hezbollah maintains its electoral district
Despite the growing discontent among the Lebanese, Hezbollah, which the United States and some European countries designate as a terrorist organization, has retained control of its electoral district through its extensive network of patronage, sectarian incitement and threats to opposition supporters, analysts say.
"The community that still votes for (Hezbollah) still does not have any clear alternative, and this is what the party realizes and nurtures," said Lina Khatib, director of the Middle East program at Britain's Chatham House.
The party maintained a regular flow of dollars to all of its members, and its charitable organizations still provide much assistance to the community.
The party maintained loyalties by distributing salaries of about $1,000 a month to its members, 10 times the salary of a government employee, whose value is now less than $100.
According to party members.
Indifference in the middle of the year
Regardless of nepotism, Lebanon finds itself in catastrophic crises that help Hezbollah ensure its continued strong influence over the coalition government, said Muhammad Haj Ali, a researcher at the Carnegie Center in Beirut.
Few of the Lebanese believe that these elections can help improve the economic situation in the future.
A statistic conducted by the British charity "Oxfam" revealed that only 54% of voters were ready to vote.
Indifference appears to a large extent among the Sunnis, who became leaderless after the withdrawal of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his party from politics, citing Iran's great influence in Lebanon.
The party needs allies
Although Hezbollah could win seats if the Sunnis withdrew from the elections, it still needed its Muslim and Christian allies to secure a majority.
In the 2018 elections, Hezbollah and its Shiite allies, including the Amal Movement, won 27 of the 128 seats in parliament, equally divided between Islamic and Christian parties.
Hezbollah, in alliance with the Free Patriotic Movement, a Maronite Christian party headed by Lebanese President Michel Aoun, and the Amal Movement, a Shiite militia turned into a political party, can obtain the majority, which is at least 70 seats.
In its traditional role as a protector and source of money, Hezbollah has managed to deflect much of the criticism directed at the ruling elite.
Many direct their anger against the Free Patriotic Movement and the Amal Movement. "These elections represent an opportunity to save the party's allies," said Haj Ali.
The country is not running in the right direction
But Hezbollah has some reason to be concerned, analysts say. It is blamed for stalemate over reforms, investigations into the Beirut explosion, and the 13-month continuation of the previous government's formation.
Others raise the issue of Hezbollah maintaining its arsenal of weapons, which the party says are necessary to confront Israel's occupation of areas in southern Lebanon.
"Today is not what it was in 2006," said Mona, referring to Hezbollah, referring to the war between the party and Israel that year.
Mona adds: “We support the resistance.
We want them to keep weapons to protect us.
But it is clear that proper efforts are not being made to lead the country in the right direction, and the allies of the resistance appear to be completely corrupt.”
Haj Ali says this type of criticism is rare, but it is growing.
Activists say that the fragmentation of the Shiite electoral bloc on which he once relied has prompted Hezbollah and the Amal Movement to use more threatening tactics against opposition candidates and voters who want to vote for opposition parties.
Opposition candidates reported threats of violence and difficulty in recruiting representatives to work at polling stations.
Voters say that loyalists to "Hezbollah" and the Amal movement monitor the electoral lists, and harass people who do not vote according to their liking.
Opposition to the ugly regime
The third southern region, which includes Nabatiyeh, in which the opposition candidate Wassim Ghandour, 55, is the only region in which the opposition candidates decided to unite among themselves, Ghandour said: “Even if we cannot win any seat this time, we lay the necessary foundation from For the elections of 2026 and beyond.
"I think we are echoing the voices of the silent people who can't express themselves in the south," he said.
We are all victims of this ugly system.
We have no choice but to run against them to try to save ourselves.”
Regardless of the outcome, negotiations to form a new administration will likely take a long time, and economic recovery will be slow.
At this point, voters feel boiling.
The Lebanese young man (Tareq - 35 years old), who asked that his first name be used for fear of reprisals, is the owner of a shop in the city of Tyre, where the Amal movement and "Hezbollah" enjoy great influence, that he and all the people he knows will vote for anyone against the party and the movement. (Tariq): “My three-year-old son has eye cancer. Do you think either of them did anything to me when I asked for help to treat my son and save his life?”
* Raya Chalabi - Lebanese journalist
• Despite the growing discontent among the Lebanese, "Hezbollah", which is classified as a terrorist by several parties, maintained its control over its electoral district through its extensive patronage network, sectarian incitement, and threats to opposition supporters, according to what analysts say.
• The party maintained a regular flow of dollars to all its members, and its charitable organizations still provide a lot of aid to the community. And he maintained loyalties by distributing salaries of $1,000 a month to his members, 10 times the salary of a government employee, whose value is now less than $100.
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