Lebanese Ali and his brother Mohammed, hailing from the southern city of Tyre, agreed to withdraw from the electoral machinery of a change-oriented list in the Second Southern District after a "conflict and tension with their father and uncles." Ali (29 years old) tells Asharq Al-Awsat: "My family was embarrassed by what they considered a challenge to the political forces by me and my brother, especially after a certain entity contacted my father to reprimand him for the 'sin' we committed in their eyes." He adds, "A quarrel erupted between us and the family and our father ordered us to withdraw from the machinery immediately to avoid further embarrassment, but we reached a settlement: we won't embarrass them, but we have the freedom to choose in the ballot box."
The older brother of six siblings, five of whom are of voting age, states that he and his siblings, along with some young relatives, will vote for change-oriented forces, while the parents will opt for traditional political forces that have always been their choice. Lebanon will witness tomorrow the third and final phase of parliamentary elections within the country, which captivates the attention of many Lebanese, especially since the majority see it as a hope for changing Lebanon's political and living reality, particularly since it is the first after widespread public protests in 2019 known as the "17 October Revolution" and the Beirut port explosion in 2020, in addition to the financial and living collapse that has intensified citizens' resentment of the ruling class and its parties.
Despite the importance of these elections, there are significant divisions within many Lebanese families, as a larger number of the younger generation is expressing their opinions at the ballot box, disregarding their family's affiliations as a priority and their surrounding environment as a secondary concern. The CEO of "Statistics Lebanon," Rabi'a Al-Habr, tells Asharq Al-Awsat about "a new phenomenon in Lebanon that we have not witnessed before, represented by a political fragmentation within families." He notes the existence of a kind of "war between generations even within the same family," explaining that "many families where parents adhere strictly to their party affiliations often see their children or the younger generation adopting a different direction, whether in support of the revolution, change-oriented forces, or other parties." Al-Habr observes that "this fragmentation exists in all regions without exception," also pointing out differences even within the same household, the same direction, and even among candidates on the same lists.
Ghina shares her family's opinions as they vote in the Second Beirut District, explaining to Asharq Al-Awsat: "Our small family consists of five people; everyone agrees on the list we will vote for, but the disagreement arises over the preferential vote. The family wants to give the preferential vote to a candidate from the minorities, while I insist on giving my preferential vote to a woman, as we greatly need active women in parliament." She adds: "What's important in these elections is that everyone expresses their opinion in the ballot box."
In a similar vein, Wissam, hailing from the Chouf region, stands firmly against his father, who insists on boycotting the elections and tries to force his children to follow his lead. Wissam affirms to Asharq Al-Awsat that he made a mistake in the previous parliamentary elections in 2018 when he followed his father's decision to vote for the political forces and will not repeat that mistake, stating: "If my father finds that boycotting is the appropriate way to express his opinion, that's his business, but my siblings and I will vote according to our convictions."
In this context, Charles Jabour, head of the media and communication unit at the Lebanese Forces party, indicates in a conversation with Asharq Al-Awsat that "talking about the new generation’s tendency to disregard their parents' predetermined political stance, regardless of any background, may give the impression that it is a healthy matter in the sense that the new generation wants to express itself and does not want to adhere to previous political legacies, hence it seeks to push towards a new direction. However, substantively, we need to pay attention to a fundamental issue, which is that the problem in Lebanon and the disagreement is not between traditional forces and revolutionary forces, but rather a disagreement over a political project."
Jabour believes that "the problem of political tradition is that it adapts to the prevailing powers and does not confront them," pointing out that "the core issue of the Lebanese crisis lies between two fundamentally different political projects. There is a faction in Lebanon that sees its right to possess arms and resist without the state, and the state is of no value in its concept and definition, while another political project sees that Lebanon cannot exist without a real state that forms the shared space among all Lebanese, with the exclusive possession of arms."
He states: "It is very important for there to be young change-oriented forces, but these forces must possess a comprehensive political project, firstly that this project should be the state, the constitution, the law, and the judiciary like any state in the world, and secondly, to rise up for their way of life, and priority should be given to the economy, security, freedom, and dignity regardless of ideologies belonging to ideological and doctrinal legacies that have nothing to do with people, but are only doctrines aimed at numbing groups and individuals for specific goals and considerations of the states that use them."
Jabour emphasizes the importance of "change, but this change can be very dangerous if the matter is framed as wanting to change political forces," affirming the "need to pay attention that change within all environments must start from a fundamental issue related to a comprehensive political project titled primarily 'the transition to the state', and this is the focal point. Otherwise, we fall into the political abyss, and the organized party, namely Hizbullah, will win, which seeks to undermine all pillars of society and exploit some genuine change forces to undermine other pillars within society to allow it to control and dominate over society."
