Listen to an interview with Lokman Sleem an activist based in Beirut Lebanon and co-founder of "Hayya Bina!". During Lebanon's recent Parliamentary elections, "Hayya Bina!", which translates from Arabic to "Let's Go!", organized a campaign of direct action, which called on people to vote with spoiled ballots in protest of Lebanon's sectarian political system. The spoiled ballots, which were cast simply read, 64 Muslim MP's plus 64 Christian MP's, equals zero Lebanese MP's.

> >  http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=13051

 
Listen to an interview with Lokman Sleem an activist based in Beirut Lebanon and co-founder of "Hayya Bina!". During Lebanon's recent Parliamentary elections, "Hayya Bina!", which translates from Arabic to "Let's Go!", organized a campaign of direct action, which called on people to vote with spoiled ballots in protest of Lebanon's sectarian political system. The spoiled ballots, which were cast simply read, 64 Muslim MP's plus 64 Christian MP's, equals zero Lebanese MP's.

Lebanon's electoral system is rooted in a sectarian definition of the country dating back to the country's independence from France in 1943, with half of the countries 128 Parliamentary seats being allocated between Muslims & Christians. The sectarian nature of Lebanon's electoral system was reinstated in 1990 with the U.S., Saudi & Syrian sponsored Taif Accord, which brought an official end to the 15 Lebanese civil-war and again in June 2005, in the first national elections after Syria's April 2005 withdrawal.

Lebanon's 2005 elections finished with 72 of the countries 128 Parliamentary seats going to the leading "Opposition" coalition, lead by the Saad Hariri, the son of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri who was assassinated in downtown Beirut bomb-blast in February 2005. The backbone of Saad Hariri's political campaign was the political energy flowing from major "Opposition" street demonstrations in Lebanon demanding Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon between February & April 2005, sparked by Rafik Hariri's assassination.

Today many grassroots activists in Lebanon, like those involved with "Hayya Bina!", express that the 2005 "Opposition" street demonstrations after Hariri's death were co-opted by the official "Opposition", which in words called for political change in the country but in reality directly participated in reinstating the same sectarian political system in Lebanon.

-> To listen to the interview with Lokman Sleem of Hayya Bina! visit:
http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=13051

-> For more information on Hayya Bina! visit: http://www.hayyabina.org

-> For more information and analysis on the current political situation in Lebanon visit: http://beirut.indymedia.org

This interview was recorded and produced in Beirut, Lebanon by Stefan Christoff for CKUT Radio in Montreal, who is currently in Lebanon to produce written, audio, and visual reports on present-day struggles for social justice in Lebanon. You can view full-details on Christoff's reporting from the Middle East online at:

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3905.shtml