سجعان قزي

@AzziSejean

هل يَنحصِرُ تأثيرُ الانتخاباتِ النيابيّةِ هذه المرّة على النظامِ اللبنانيِّ أم يَمتدُّ إلى الكيانِ اللبناني؟ في الدولِ الديمقراطيِّة المكتَمِلةِ التكوينِ الوطنيِّ يَقتصِرُ تأثيرُ الانتخاباتِ على تداولِ السلطةِ بين الأكثريّةِ والأقليّة، ولا يَطالُ النظامَ ولا الكيان. هكذا كانت الحالُ في لبنان حتى انتخاباتِ 1992 التي انعكسَت على النظامِ بوجْهَيه الدستوريِّ والميثاقيّ، وانتخاباتِ هذه السنةِ، 2022، التي ستَنعكِسُ حتمًا على النظامِ، وربما على الكِيان. فلا نَدَعِ الحملاتِ الانتخابيّةَ الفائضةَ والبرامجَ الشعبويّةَ المدَبْلَجةَ تَخدَعُنا وتُبعِدُنا عن جوهرِ الاستحقاقِ الانتخابيّ.

In a press conference from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister Abdullah Bouhabib announced that “the voter turnout in the first …

By foxnews.com -- The wedding of the year is set to take place at the lavish Mar-a-lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida on Nov. 12. Tiffany Trump, the youngest daughter of former President Donald Trump, is reportedly set to tie the knot this fall with Lebanese businessman Michael Boulos, according to Page Six. More than 500 guests will attend the affair overseen by Trump and his ex-wife, Marla Maples, the outlet reported. Tiffany is the couple’s only child. The happy couple announced their engagement in January 2021, a day before Trump left the White House. Boulos proposed at the White House Rose Garden with a 13-carat emerald-cut diamond ring purchased in Dubai, which is believed to be worth $1.2 million.

Boulos' father is business tycoon Massad Boulos, who runs Boulos Enterprises and SCOA Nigeria, a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate that trades in construction, equipment, retail and vehicles. His mother is the daughter of Lebanese businessman Zouhair Faddoul. Boulos grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, where he attended an elite international school, but later moved to London, England, to study management finance and risk at City, University of London. In the summer of 2018, Tiffany met Boulos in Mykonos, Greece, at a party hosted by Lindsay Lohan. The couple was first spotted together at the Taoray Wang runway show in September 2018 during New York Fashion Week. The couple initially set their sights on Greece to tie the knot. However, according to Page Six, the couple changed their minds and decided to hold the special event at Trump's estate.

By AFP -- Lebanese expatriates began casting their votes yesterday for parliamentary elections, more than two years into an unprecedented economic crisis has that spurred a mass exodus. While opposition figures have pinned their hopes on the diaspora, experts said the elections were expected to uphold the status quo, despite years of economic meltdown. Expatriates in nine Arab countries and in Iran were casting their ballots yesterday. Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said around 36% of registered overseas electors had voted by the afternoon, with some 11,000 ballots cast. Foreign Affairs Minister Abdallah Bou Habib expressed hope for 70% participation, noting that “voters in the Gulf usually rush to the ballot boxes in the evening.” The NNA said 65% of the 642 registered voters in Tehran had already cast their ballots. Lebanon’s ambassador to Tehran, Hassan Mohamed Abbas, welcomed the turnout. “Lebanese citizens living in Iran have shown lots of enthusiasm,” he said. In Saudi Arabia, around 30% of over 13,000 registered voters had voted by yesterday afternoon, according to the NNA.

Voting will take place in 48 other countries tomorrow. It is the second time in Lebanon’s history that citizens residing abroad are able to vote for their 128 representatives, in elections set to be held at home on May 15. The vote is the first since mass protests erupted in late 2019 against the country’s entrenched ruling elite, widely blamed for the economic collapse. Bou Habib had said that Lebanese based abroad would be able to vote in more than 205 polling stations worldwide. More than 225,000 people have registered to vote overseas, a jump from roughly 92,000 in 2018 elections — though only 50,000 of them voted at the time.

But voter registration, while on the rise, remains relatively low among the millions of Lebanese who live abroad, and their descendants. The economic crisis has pushed middle-class Lebanese, including families, fresh graduates, doctors and nurses to emigrate in search of a better future. While opposition groups hope the diaspora will vote for change, only 6% of overseas voters picked independents in 2018, according to a recent report by the Paris-based Arab Reform Initiative. Candidates from the traditional parties have sent messages to many expatriates in recent weeks to appeal for their vote.