We, The People..

In the polls, we should give our favorite politicians a slap on the wrist.

The Elections are getting closer, the campaigns are being prepared and the alliances are taking form. There's a worrying trend though:
Politicians we like are telling us to vote for politicians we don't like.

Sometimes, political alliances are justified, but sometimes they are outward bizarre: Aoun making alliances with Hezbollah, Franjyieh or Lahhoud would be like an African-American allying with the Klu Klux clan.

It is understandable that politicians make alliances, especially with such a distorted election law. It is also understandable that voters support such alliances (to preserve the credibility of their representatives when they make electoral promises). What is not understandable is the candidates taking the voters for granted.

Elections give people two kinds of power: the power to choose the people they deem fit, and the power to punish those they deem otherwise.
Politicians are thinking that they can take the second power away from their voters.
I for one would never vote for Suleiman Franjyieh even if Hariri, Musbah el Ahdab or Nassib Lahhoud ask me to. Simply because I believe that Suleiman Franjyieh deserves to be punished.

Nabil bou Monsef from Annahar once said on a T.V show that March 14th marked the end of the Era where a politician thinks that he can control his constituency. Not everyone is so optimistic: Rajeh al Khoury, Also from Annahar, has lamented today the "Elections that have already taken place".

The Lebanese voter is neither amnesic nor stupid, and he will exercise his duty to choose the people HE thinks are capable of running the country.