Dar Al Hayat | Link to story »
The Obama administration sees Lebanon’s parliamentary elections on Sunday as pivotal in shaping the future of that country, while at the same time highlighting the composition and the program of the next Lebanese government as the parameters for determining its policy towards it.
The elections, largely seen as a referendum on the current majority (March 14) policies since taking power in May 2005 and after ending the Syrian occupation, are not expected to be “decisive” according to Les Campbell, the head of Middle East Department at the National Democratic Institute. Campbell, who is currently in Beirut to monitor the process, said in remarks at an event hosted by the Lebanese Renaissance Foundation and the Aspen Institute in Washington earlier this week, that “elections are often not the most important element in burgeoning democracies” adding that “in Lebanon specifically they would primarily serve as a starting point for further negotiations over the formation of the next government.”