Episode 30 - Yalla bye 2018

The Lebanese Politics Podcast

Yalla bye begins at 24:03. What a weekend in Lebanese politics. The thirtieth episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast is our last show of 2018 and we’ve got a lot for you. Nizar is back to help Ben breakdown all the drama in the war of words between former MP Wiam Wahhab and Prime Minister-elect Saad Hariri, which unfortunately escalated into violence. We also talk the Streisand effect, for those in Lebanon who try and to bury a story through defamation charges and all but guarantee it winds back up in the press. The ongoing dispute between the government and the generator owners also escalated this week, with the seizure of the first two generators for non-compliance. Some good news in the mix: KAFA has secured cross party support for an amendment to the domestic violence law. Cabinet, meanwhile, remains stalled on the question of the six Sunni MPs. Also out this week, the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE) have released a damning report on the May parliamentary elections, critiquing the law, the implementation of it, and the chaos of the election itself. We take a mini deep dive into the conclusions of the report, given our own start as an elections podcast. And as this is the last episode of season one—TLPP will be returning for a second season in mid-January—we thought it would be a good time to reflect on the politics of 2018, the obsession with the elections in the run up, and the inability to translate the results into a workable government since. Because really, what was the point of 2018? Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel