The construction site of a new minaret of St. Georges church, near al Amin mosque, Beirut

DEARBORN — Unlikely alliances are common in the ever-shifting Lebanese political landscape. But when Christian leader Samir Geagea endorsed his civil war enemy and political rival Michel Aoun to be president, it came as a shock to Lebanese citizens who are accustomed to bizarre political twists. 

However, many Lebanese Americans seem disconnected from the political bickering in their home country and more interested in a corruption- free state that protects all citizens.

The Lebanese presidency has been vacant since May of 2013. According to the nation’s parliamentary sectarian system, lawmakers elect the president, who must be Maronite Christian. Although the head of state can be selected with a simple majority, a session cannot be held without two thirds of the parliament members’ being present. The required quorum means feuding factions have to agree on a president before the election. 

Ali Jawad, the founder of the Lebanese American Heritage Club, said the Lebanese president has historically been the product of an international deal that forces Lebanese politicians to come to a consensus.

Lebanese political parties have foreign patrons that influence, and sometimes dictate, their decisions.

“Lebanon is always affected by regional and international conflict,” Jawad said. “Without a foreign intervention, it’s hard to elect a president.”

The president-less nation is struggling with security, economic, health and environmental crises. Beirut has been the target of several bombings over the past two years. Meanwhile, the government is failing to provide basic services, including electricity. Garbage is piling up in the streets, as the country struggles to find adequate landfills and contract a company for trash collection. 

The turmoil in the Middle East, especially the war in neighboring Syria, has put the Lebanese political process on hold. The parliamentary elections, which were due in 2013, have been postponed, and lawmakers voted to extend their own terms.

But the stalemate between the Hezbollah-led 8 March alliance and the Western-backed 14 March coalition seemed to loosen when former Prime Minister Saad Hariri backed Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency.

Franjieh is a close ally of the Syrian government. Hariri, a leader in the 14 March bloc, accuses the Syrian regime of assassinating his father former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.

However, 8 March’s official candidate is Michel Aoun, a former anti-Syrian army chief, who struck an alliance with Hezbollah after returning to Lebanon from his exile in Paris in 2005.

The Syrian army occupied Lebanon until 2005. During that time, Syrian officials controlled major decisions in Lebanon. 

The situation became even more complicated when Geagea endorsed Aoun. Geagea was the official candidate of 14 March until Hariri voiced support for Franjieh.

Geagea spent 11 years in jail after being accused of ordering a bombing in a church in 1994. But his supporters say he was imprisoned because of his opposition to the Syrian presence in Lebanon.

Aoun and Geagea, who were absent from the political scene for years, emerged as the leading, competing Christian figures in the country after 2005. But their rivalry goes back decades. In 1990, Aoun, then a general and self-proclaimed prime minister, declared war on Geagea’s Lebanese Forces in the name of eliminating militias. The conflict resulted in some of the fiercest intra-sectarian clashes of the civil war.

The recent developments are reshaping the alliances in Lebanon. 

Hezbollah and the Lebanese Forces are fundamental foes. Hezbollah is a Shi’a Islamist militant organization that leads the fight against Israel. The Forces are a right wing Christian group that collaborated with the Zionist state during the civil war.

However, Hezbollah is still standing by Aoun, and Franjieh, who was a close ally of the former army chief, has not withdrawn his candidacy.

Jawad, of the LAHC, said it does not matter who becomes president, as long as the next leader of the country fights corruption.

He said, the Taif Accord, which ended the civil war in 1990, dismantled the militias but created economic mafias.

“The corruption in Lebanon is unbelievable,” he said. “The garbage has been in the streets for eight months, but they can’t pick it up because politicians have not agreed on how they can steal from it. If the president cannot fight corruption, forget about Lebanon.”

Jawad is not sure of Aoun’s ability to bring transparency and accountability to Lebanese politics.

“I hope he can, but I don’t think so,” he said. 

Christina Elhaddad, a Lebanese American attorney based in New York, said a new president cannot change the country. 

“It would be nice to see a president with actual power to change, a president who is strong enough to tackle corruption and put everyone in their place,” she said. “But the problem with that is, if the president doesn’t fit the agenda of those who have Lebanon hooked on their strings, he will be assassinated.”

Political assassinations are common in the country. Two presidents, two prime ministers and dozens of politicians and journalist have been murdered since the start of the civil war in 1975.

Elhaddad is not optimistic about Lebanon’s future.

“All in all, it’s unfortunate that I feel Lebanon is a hopeless case,” she said. 

Charlie Kadado, the editor in chief of news website the Lebanese Examiner, described Geagea’s endorsing Aoun as shocking news.

“It’s time for a president,” Kadado said. “It’s an embarrassment to not have a president.”

Kadado said he hopes for a unifying leader who can work with all religious factions and political parties.

“Lebanon’s political climate and security climate have been weak for so long that this has become natural that people accept it,” he said. “And this is the problem itself.”

In his book From Beirut to Jerusalem, Thomas Friedman writes an analogy a Lebanese woman told him about accepting the unfortunate status quo.

The woman compares the people’s sense of normalcy during the civil war to a frog that adopts to the gradually rising temperatures in a lab experiment. The frog endures the heat until it dies, without realizing the severity of the situation.

Peter, a 68-year-old Lebanese American who chose to be identified by his first name only, bemoaned the character of the entire political class in his home country.

“They are the dirtiest, lowest tier of politicians in the world,” he said. “They can’t even collect the garbage. Embezzlement, patronage, sectarianism; they all work for their own interests. They need to clean up and let people live.”

Peter is not fond of Aoun but favors him over Franjieh.

“Even if Aoun comes, it’s difficult to fix the country,” he said. “It’s a pity what happened to our people.”

Asked about Samir Geagea’s backing Michel Aoun, Lebanese activist Mario Ramadan wrote, “lol”

He said the two politicians’ supporters had to go through a war and now have to endure their leaders’ ideological shifts.

“To put it straight, Lebanon needs new clean blood, not leaders that remind us of the war,” he said.

The country needs a bureaucratic president that can address the crises, not civil war era politicians, Ramadan continued.

Ramadan added that the media frenzy about Geagea and Aoun does not mean that the latter will become president.

“So far it is noise– a distraction,” he wrote. “The main issues should be handled. Garbage collection, electricity…”

Ramadan rued the foreign influence on Lebanon, saying that politicians are unashamed about the role of the other nations in determining the fate of the country.

“We will never be respected as long as we do not respect ourselves,” he said.

Moustapha Itani, 27, was blunt about his lack of faith in the Lebanese system.

“I frankly do not have an input,” he said. “I stopped caring long ago. Let them just keep the administrations active so we can easily pack and leave. They can have it all. I have no willingness to claim anything here mine.”