The Director of the International Center for Media and Higher Studies – Beirut, Rafic Nasrallah, pledged during an interview on OTV that he will dance naked in Martyrs’ Square if the opposition gets more than 3 seats.
This strikingly reflects the extent to which the ruling parties and their supporters underestimated the power of the people opposing them since the Lebanese Revolution.
It now remains to see if Rafic Nasrallah will honor his promise since the opposition did win not just 3 but 13 seats in the new parliament.
It was certainly a remarkable victory by the opposition, unexpected by the ruling parties and their supporters.
And yet, it should have been expected, considering the uprising on October 17th, 2019, and its revolution that has kept going despite the halt of the massive protests due to the pandemic.
During the pandemic, political groups stemming from the revolution and the massive frustration of the people, started to form proactively, readying for these elections to confront and break the grip of the political authority.
Opposition lists hence rose in strength to race in these elections, the first since the devastating economic collapse and the explosion of the port of Beirut in 2020, which investigation ruling parties have persisted in obstructing.
