Episode 19 - STL

The Lebanese Politics Podcast

STL begins at 19:25. The nineteenth episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast has presenters Benjamin Redd and Nizar Hassan discuss news of the past week, including who should bare responsibility for the flooding from the first post-summer rains, protests over Horsh Beirut excavations, political bickering through the bureaucracy between the FPM and PSP, Judge Marwan Abboud calling for half of all state employees to be sacked for incompetence and corruption, Abu Faour’s extraordinary outburst against Aoun, the economic pressures for cabinet formation, and the growing need to pass the budget. Our main topic: The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). The prosecution at the STL presented its closing arguments this week. We analyse the political atmosphere around the assassination of Rafic Hariri and its aftermath, as well as the political dimensions to the STL, and what a guilty verdict against the accused would mean for Hezbollah internationally and within Lebanon. Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel