Beirut, Lebanon – The victory of more than a dozen anti-establishment candidates in Sunday’s parliamentary elections allowed many Lebanese to hope that the news would mark the beginning of a new effort to combat endemic corruption and bring about lasting change into the cash-strapped country.
But, while Prime Minister Najib Mikati called the elections a “victory” for Lebanon after final results were announced on Tuesday, election observers said that thousands of cases of corruption, violence, and vote-rigging at polling stations had been recorded, a reminder that the country’s entrenched political system still has enforcers who do not wish to see change.
