If you ask the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, there shouldn’t even be an election. Tomorrow the northern, mostly Christian, district of Koura is holding a by-election to fill a parliamentary seat left empty by the May 31 death of Lebanese Forces MP Farid Habib. Traditionally in Lebanese politics, when an MP dies in office, someone from his or her family will run uncontested and “hold” the seat until the next general election. Not this time. The rumor mill has it that both Koura MP Farid Makari (a March 14 ally) and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri pushed the LF and Habib’s family to run a relative. Instead, LF leader Samir Geagea has said, the party contacted its top brass in Koura and, through internal discussions and balloting, chose Fadi Karam—a dentist making his first foray into politics—as their candidate. [NowLebanon]