Lebanon election international affair

[capricorn]

Lebanese political organizers have set a new standard for the election tradition of giving voters a free lift to the polls. They've added airliners to the fleet of cars and vans.

Thousands of Lebanese-Canadians have taken free flights to Lebanon to vote in Sunday's election, adding to a tab that reaches into the hundreds of millions for a country of four million people.

By most democratic standards, accepting a free transatlantic flight for a vote would be ethically questionable and probably illegal.

In Lebanon, the ticket is just one more transaction in a campaign described as one of the most expensive, and possibly corrupt, ever held.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nation...article1169951/

With vote-buying rampant in Lebanon, both sides are dishing out the money.

Paul Salem heads the Carnegie Middle East Centre, a political think-tank based in Beirut.

"Big money - and we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars - is being spent in this election, and that definitely will influence the outcome," he said.

"That is not very democratic, so yes, it is a concern.

"It does have a corrupting influence and it might, in some tight races, sway the election."

Overseas bribes

But it is not just local Lebanese who are selling their votes. Political organisers have taken their campaign overseas.

They are offering free air tickets to thousands of Lebanese in Australia and elsewhere to fly to Beirut to try to swing the vote.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06...ection=features

Lebanese voters Sunday appeared to choose a U.S.-backed coalition over a Hezbollah-backed alliance in key parliamentary elections, early returns indicated.

With 128 seats to be determined, Lebanese television reports indicated the U.S.-backed alliance held on to its majority in Parliament, The New York Times reported. If the preliminary results hold up, the outcome would be regarded as a defeat for Hezbollah and its allies, Iran and Syria, the Times said.

Voter turnout was heavy and official results were not expected until at least noon Monday, CNN reported Sunday. An estimated 3 million people were eligible to vote, and preliminary figures indicated a near-record turnout with 55 percent of them casting ballots, the Times said.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/06/07/US-...91431244376076/

If there was this much vote buying for dual citizens, I can imagine the vote buying going on inside Lebanon.

The population of Lebanon is approx. 4 million. Of those, it is reported approx. 3 million are eligible to vote. It seems to me for that to be right, the voting age would have to be very, very low. Or, maybe some Lebanese were fortunate enough to have multiple votes.

Firm results expected tomorrow, but it doesn't appear Hezbollah will have a majority.