The importance of Lebanon's upcoming municipality elections

Lebanon’s political economy and social history have long been dominated to a large degree by regional and local politics - including pre-mandate eras – characterised by the authority of local leaders or zou’ama.

Moreover, successive political elites and ruling authorities prioritised local governance to satisfy their respective constituencies, especially in a context as politically and geographically divided as Lebanon.

The strength of the current regime, as has been the case since the country’s foundation, is its infiltration into different sectors and arenas of power, moving beyond traditional parliamentary seats.

This infiltration includes the control of labour unions, syndicates, and all sources of areas with organisational potential. Most relevant to today’s circumstances are the upcoming municipal elections, scheduled for late May.

"The strength of the current regime, as has been the case since the country's foundation, is its infiltration into different sectors and arenas of power, moving beyond traditional parliamentary seats"

Breaking patriarchal cultures

Liberal and mainstream public opinion centralised around last year’s parliamentary elections as a cornerstone for political change, ignoring the multifaceted nature of the current regime’s power and the limited impact a small number of opposition parliamentarians can have.

Afterwards, a major section of the population began associating the entire oppositional movement with the actions of current opposition members of parliament, which reflects the current authoritarian and patriarchal culture of za’amatiyya or idolised representativeness.

More recently, many opposition groups are realising the importance of reclaiming the grassroots and collective nature of the movement to move away from a few faces and a few breakthroughs here and there, such as those in parliament and previously in syndicates.

They aim instead to build a more solid organisational core and political groups with firm foundations that can unify and direct such breakthroughs and sporadic victories into one political vision, in plans that will also include the upcoming municipality elections.

The discursive importance of the municipality elections

As soon as parliamentary elections ended, recurrent questions about ‘what the revolution achieved’ have been directed at new oppositional members of parliament’s work. Given the official mandates of a parliamentarian, duties are mostly legislative and accountability-related, and lack an executive aspect.

Consequently, the lack of executive power means that members of parliament don’t have the capacity to implement projects that are directly visible and appreciated by local populations. Their steps and political decisions obviously have a reflection on their overall performance, but it’s not the same for local households who are in need of and anticipate services and projects that directly benefit them.

On the other hand, municipalities indeed have the authority and role to implement local, and - very importantly, visible - projects for local populations to notice. Voting on a law in parliament that might need several years to be implemented doesn’t have the same impact as a local project to improve water delivery systems.

In addition, the gravity of the current socioeconomic crisis amplifies the needs of residents for direct, tangible, and timely outcomes.

As a result, making a breakthrough and achieving good results in municipality elections are necessary for the oppositional movement’s reputation, the population’s trust in it, and its overall political direction and existence.

Positive results would come with the possibility - albeit still challenged by ruling class systems - of implementing pro-people projects and making concrete, timely, and overtly visible interventions to improve livelihoods.

"The municipality elections are the opposition's opportunity to showcase a practical local model of governance that is able to deliver in the midst of an economic crisis"

Different spaces, one political battle

The interlinkages and reinforcements that different political battles hold have two meanings for the upcoming municipality elections.

First, the municipality elections’ impact on the country’s overall hegemonic power dynamics is considerable. It’s a space where oppositional and overall political momentum is high, and thus it could greatly help in boosting organisational politics in the same way that parliamentary elections did, and hopefully reinvigorate the oppositional movement as a whole and the national political debate.

It’s also important for social hegemony given the authority that municipalities have over local activities, dynamics, affiliations, and political economy.

“The municipality elections are the opposition's opportunity to showcase a practical local model of governance that is able to deliver in the midst of an economic crisis,” political sociologist Karim Safieddine told The New Arab.

Safieddine highlights two main factors which make the municipal elections such an important space of political contestation. The first relates to the regime’s localist, infiltrationist, and clientelist political economy which has characterised the state of municipalities for decades.

The second factor is the nature of fund allocation internally which impacts the distribution of services and prioritisation processes, the allocation of aid and development funds from local and international donors through municipalities, and the financial investment which highlights the degree of importance for all concerned political groups.

The interlinkages between different political battles also mean that the political programs of municipality elections should fall within the same overall political vision, both for ruling class groups and oppositional ones.

Conservative political groups are more likely to implement conservative municipal and local initiatives – examples include putting curfews in place for refugee mobility - while progressive forces are more likely to implement horizontally inclusive policies, such as extending local infrastructure to reach marginalised communities, and so forth.

Reinvigorating municipal councils

The shortcomings of successive municipality boards across the country over the decades have shown the need for structural reforms of current municipal governances in place.

Land ownership being shared as quotas between political figures, the inaccessibility of the overall population to public spaces, infrastructural deterioration, and many other deficiencies have hitherto proven destructive for the well-being of local populations.

The main reflection of the unequal nature of the current system is the disparity between political-affiliated local elites and their constituents, such as the head of the Beirut municipality Jamal Itani hosting luxurious events in times when Beirutis don’t have access to basic services.

On the other hand, progressive alternative campaigns, such as the Beirut-based Beirut Tuqawem campaign - which participated in the parliamentary elections and achieved great results with its successful candidate Ibrahim Mneimneh getting the most votes in the capital - have put forward detailed programs targeted specifically at flaws in social service delivery systems and resource allocation.

"The Lebanese socioeconomic system is in dire need of people-centred approaches to public policy, on a national and local level, and the municipality elections constitute a crucial arena for such change in the country"

“It’s another chance for the campaign to prove its presence in the city, and to accumulate over the breakthroughs achieved on a parliamentary level,” Moe Farida, a political relations officer in Beirut Tuqawem, told The New Arab, highlighting the importance of the municipality elections.

“On another level, the country is in need of revamping substandard municipal councils, most of which are controlled by ruling class political parties,” he adds. “On a third level, the municipal elections could be a chance to reinvigorate and re-energise municipal councils, and for the improvement of social conditions, at least locally.”

The current stage of the Lebanese socioeconomic system, characterised by dismal circumstances, is in dire need of people-centred approaches to public policy, on a national and local level, and the municipality elections constitute a crucial arena for such change in the country.

The formation of a unified, people-centred, and pragmatic front for the municipality elections and other upcoming political battles is an existential need for Lebanese residents.

Marwan Issa is a writer and researcher specialised in sociopolitical analysis with a focus on civil society, social movements, and Levantine political economy

Follow him on Twitter: @MarwanIssa4