Rami Zurayk: French Elections Seen From Lebanon

The Lebanese government is elated with the election of Nicolas Sarkozy to the Elysee. The government is supported by the March 14 movement, which is led by Saudi-Lebanese businessman Saad Hariri, son of murdered Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. The March 14 movement has been unconditional in its support for Sarkozy since the early days of the campaign. There are many reasons for this.

1. Sarkozy is a neo-conservative, and a strong believer in ultra liberal economic policies. Over the past decade and a half, successive Lebanese governments led by Hariri have imposed a corporate approach to the economic development of Lebanon. Central to this approach are privatization, accession to WTO and the signature of bilateral Free Trade agreements. Sarkozy and the current Lebanese government are part of the same school of thought that focuses on economic growth at the expense of social welfare.

2. One of Sarkozy's earliest declarations after his election was to confirm his plan to politically align France with the US, especially on Middle East politics. This is another area of intersection of the March 14 camp, which is accused by the Lebanese opposition of political surrogacy to the US. The US Ambassador to Lebanon, Jeffrey Feltman, is a major player in Lebanese politics, arranging political unions and influencing governmental appointments.

3. Many among the March 14 hawks are long-time admirers of Sarkozy's strong arm tactics when dealing with popular uprisings, as was the case during the Paris suburban riots. Since December 2006, parts of Beirut's Central District have been occupied by the opposition, in protest against the government. Pro-government hawks have called for "a good clean up" of the area and have urged the Lebanese army to intervene. Sarkozy's famous statement about cleaning some inner cities with a "Karcher" (a strong water jet used for removing resistant grime from dirty city walls and pavements) finds special resonance in Lebanon.

4. In spite of the many differences of opinion between Sarkozy and Chirac, they seem to see eye to eye on the issue of the International Tribunal to indict the killers of the late Rafic Hariri. The Tribunal is a source of controversy in Lebanon, and is central to the political dogma of the March 14 movement. Chirac, who holds close ties with the billionaire Hariri family, made the Tribunal his personal crusade. On May 10, Sarkozy took time from a hectic post election schedule to meet with Mr. Saad Hariri for 45 minutes. Mr. Chirac was also present at the meeting.

It is clear that there is an ideological meeting of minds between the March 14 camp and Sarkozy, which makes their mutual attraction understandable. The March 14 movement is an important French and US ally in Lebanon. Mr. Sarkozy shares with them political, economical, and soon perhaps personal interests. It is understandable that they should perceive his election win as their own victory.

What is less understandable is the Lebanese Opposition's welcoming reaction to the election of Sarkozy.

The Opposition is led by Hizbullah, which has been at the forefront of the resistance to Israel for the past 20 years. Sarkozy, however, is a declared supporter of Israel and of its policies in the Middle East. He has clear affinities with the Lebanese pro-government camp. Why should Hizbullah make an official statement congratulating the new French President on his electoral win? Here are two possible reasons:

Hizbullah (and other parties of the Opposition) does not have a particular affinity for the French socialists. There are many reasons for that. Euro-socialism has always been close to the Israeli labor party and a vocal supporter of Israel. In the latest Israeli war on Lebanon in July 2006, the French Socialists position was wavering between all out support for Israel and calls for Israeli "moderation" in its heavy aerial bombardment of civilian areas. Leftist newspapers traditionally sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, such as Le Monde, took an openly pro-Israeli stance on the war. Others in the Left failed to take clear sides on the assault that resulted in more than a thousand civilian dead in Lebanon, mostly women and children. This reinforced the already existing belief held by Hizbullah that the Socialists cannot be trusted.

One must also realize that Hizbullah appears to have no qualms with Sarkozy's economic ideologies, nor does it openly oppose neo-liberal economic thought. Over the years, it has collaborated with successive Hariri governments in the implementation of policies anchored in privatization and market liberalization. It has also failed to provide any significant commentary on the IMF-styled reform plans of the current government. Thus, while standing in theory on the side of the poor and the downtrodden, Hizbullah has in practice endorsed anti-poor economic policies. This makes it closer to Sarkozy than to Socialism.

Mr. Sarkozy's election has had the merit of unveiling this little known fact about Lebanon: Government and Opposition may disagree on many issues, but economic policy is not one of them. For the poor of Lebanon, this may be the real bad news.

Rami Zurayk is a Professor of Ecosystem Management Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the American University of Beirut. You can view more of Rami Zurayk's work at www.landandpeople.blogspot.com - Opinions in this article are expressed personally and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the American University of Beirut.

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