Believe it or not, an LBCI TV report said, the journalists union in Lebanon is tasked with protecting journalists’ rights.
But, believe it or not, it quoted online journalist Hassan Al Zein as saying, members of the Lebanese Journalists Union (LJU), who aren’t even journalists, sell their presence to political entities for a pretty penny during that election period.
"A large number of members aren’t journalists, while a large number of journalists aren’t members," leading disgruntled reporters, correspondents and editors to petition for a boycott of the election, said a newsperson.
Screen shot of Sawssan Abou-Zahr’s tweet calling for boycott
The campaign’s aim is to change the makeup of the very clubby syndicate that benefits only a handful of its executives, some members and quite a few flunkies. It’s headed by the just-re-elected Elias Aoun.
According to a Facebook post featuring a "Boycott the LJU Elections" hashtag, Bassam Kantar from Al-Akhbar newspaper wrote derisively:
The list that will win the sham LJU election is a list that got a top-down majority political nod and groups the extreme right of the Future Movement (of former premier Saad Hariri), an adviser to Prime Minister (Tammam) Salam, machinations of the Amal Movement (headed by Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri), (the late LJU president) Melhem Karam’s orphans, a mixture of Phalangists and Lebanese Forces (two former Christian militias mainstreamed into the political system), a prince and a princess…and there are still possibilities for more offers and discounts.
Screen shot of Bassam Kantar’s Facebook protest
"Melhem Karam: Half a Century of Appropriating Power," read a headline in October 2010, in a piece describing Karam’s monopoly as one of several calamities befalling the LJU.
The late Melhem Karam (Abu-Fadil)
An LJU council ran the union’s affairs after Karam’s death and before Aoun was elected but the former president still casts a long shadow.
"May President Melhem Karam rest in peace, I feel he may still run" tweeted journalist Imad Moussa sarcastically.
Screen shot of Melhem Karam RIP tweet
Karam owned licenses for several publications, which, technically, should have excluded him from heading the LJU.
Newspaper owners and publishers are supposed to be members of a separate Lebanese Press Syndicate (LPS). That was also headed by a decades-long president.
Under Lebanon’s sectarian system, a Maronite Christian heads the LJU by while the LPS’s chief is a Sunni Muslim.
In various media reports this week, the election began well before the requisite voting quorum was assured and ballot boxes were opened before the end of the voting.
Aoun was shot on a mobile phone camera handing out papers to someone behind a barrier where members were casting their ballots.
Screen shot of Aoun handing papers to a voter behind a screen
"Somebody, who’ll remain nameless, offered to pay the dues and memberships for me and I told them when this union becomes truly effective I won’t need anyone to pay anything for me," said Saada Allaw, a journalist at the daily Assafir.
Screen shot of Saada Allaw claiming she was offered a bribe for her vote
Protesters complained the voting was rigged, allowing some journalists who were not entitled, according to the union’s own rules, to cast their ballots.
The rules say members for at least six years can vote, whereas newer members were participating in the election.
It’s the first time in the syndicate’s history that a protest occurred as the voting was taking place. The process was monitored by an NGO and a court-appointed expert.
Screen shot of "checks written into president’s pocket" sign
Protesters carried signs saying checks were made out to end up in Aoun’s pocket.
"From the first month he acted in ways that raised suspicions, which prompted the union’s administrative council to create a four-member committee to send the bank we deal with a letter requesting that any check issued by the union shouldn’t have a proviso that the main beneficiary be the president," said one anti-Aoun journalist.
He presented OTV with a list of documents showing more than passing oversights or infractions.
In one case, a bank statement dated July 5, 2013 shows Aoun had deposited money allocated for gifts into his personal account. A union audit committee ensured it was later refunded to the syndicate.
Screen shot of statement on return of funds pocketed by Aoun to the union
In a five-page LJU audit report, Aoun is said to have cashed in his entire social security benefits after resigning as secretary of the union in April 2012 to become a candidate for the presidency.
But, without the council’s knowledge, he remained registered on the social security’s books, which meant the syndicate continued paying his benefits, which he expected to also cash in.
A near-scuffle occurred on election day when Raghida Dergham, the UN bureau chief of the daily Al Hayat, tried to vote after presenting her Lebanese passport as identification.
She was turned back because, according to the rules, she must show either her Lebanese identity card or an LJU membership card.
Screen shot of Raghida Dergham after being barred from voting
"’I’m entitled to use my passport just like an identity card to vote; my passport is more important than the ID card," Dergham protested as someone argued she couldn’t travel with just an ID since it wasn’t the proper document and that she wasn’t a card-carrying union member.
Asked how he’d respond to claims of multiple infractions and violations of the union’s own rules, Aoun told Al Jadded TV: "That’s impossible, it’s a rumor."
He said Dergham had the right to vote with her passport and that she was an LJU member, and an international media personality to boot.
Pro-boycott journalists pointed to yet another infraction.
Aoun wasn’t even on the voters’ list and insisted on adding his name by hand at the last minute because it was "accidentally deleted."
Screen shot of Aoun adding his name to voters’ list by hand
Opponents said they’d contest that and other irregularities in court.
