BEIRUT: Exhausted by decades of bloodshed, many Lebanese see the political tug-of-war over the presidential election as another sad chapter in the country’s troubled history that could herald new violence.
“Even if the election takes place, it will only be a lie,” said 45-year-old technician Tanios Kyriakos.
“It would only be a morphine injection, not a real solution for our problems,” he said, echoing the general mood across the tiny Mediterranean country of around four million inhabitants.
The Western-backed ruling majority in parliament and the Syria-backed opposition have until midnight on Friday to find a consensus candidate to replace pro-Syrian incumbent Emile Lahoud.
But as the deadline nears, the feuding politicians remain deeply divided, despite international efforts to help avert a full-blown crisis that many warn could return the country to the dark days of the 1975-1990 civil war.
There is concern that the dispute could lead to two rival governments, echoing the final years of the conflict when two competing administrations battled for control.
“We cannot take it anymore, we are exhausted,” said Zainab, 41, who declined to give her surname.
“We are heading toward civil war,” added Bilal Salmani, a 33-year-old. “I don’t listen to the news anymore and I don’t go out in the evening with my family because we fear unrest.” The spectre of domestic bloodshed has been fuelled by a spate of assassinations of anti-Syrian figures in recent years and in the run-up to Nov 21, when parliament is due to vote on a successor for Lahoud.
Around 150,000 people were killed in the civil war which pitted Muslims, leftist Christians and Palestinian groups against mainly right-wing Christian militias.
By the time it ended, troops from Israel and Syria were firmly deployed in the country, where the political, security and economic infrastructure was left in tatters. The foreign armies quit Lebanon in 2000 and 2005, respectively.
But the Lebanese have been on edge since February 2005, when former billionaire premier Rafiq Hariri was assassinated in a massive bombing in the capital.
Since then, a number of other politicians and public figures have also been murdered, including two anti-Syrian MPs killed in June and September ahead of the election.
The attacks have been widely blamed on Lebanon’s powerful neighbour and former powerbroker, Syria, which denies any involvement.
More than a month of full-scale war in July and August 2006 between the Shia group Hezbollah and Israeli troops that left about 1,200 Lebanese dead, have refuelled the simmering fears that grip the war-scarred country.
For Ziad Samad, 27, who earned a degree in architecture last year, life has been on hold.
“I am eagerly waiting for the presidential election to take place and for the crisis to be resolved in the hope that it will open up the job market,” said Samad.
“But in my opinion, everything the politicians say is a waste of time.” Jamal Bustani, a 62-year-old homemaker, said that she, too, is sickened by the feuding over the presidency.
“Let them (politicians) all go to hell,” she said.
Bustani complained that lawmakers — many of whom are holed up at home or in luxury hotels amid fears of political assassinations — should concern themselves more with rebuilding Lebanon’s infrastructure.
“Nothing works properly here. We have chronic water and electricity cuts, what are they doing for the people?” she said.
Robert Lala, owner of a coffee shop in the Christian neighbourhood of Ashrafiyeh, believes the election will have no impact on the country.
“You think the situation in Lebanon only depends on the election of a president? We have so many other problems, so quite frankly the presidential election isn’t the key to everything.”
