Lebanon: Government Approved

Al-Arabiyya reports that Prime Minister Saad Hariri‘s national unity government won a resounding 122 out of 128 vote of confidence from the Lebanese parliament, which came despite discontent voiced from Christian MPs over Hezbollah’s arms.  The vote has paved the way for Hariri to meet with Syrian president Bashar Assad.

Michael Young has a piece questioning if the Maronite movement can reinvent itself.  He argues the Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir has been a “beacon on matters of legitimacy,” but his recent comments that Hezbollah should disarm and his adherence to Lebanon’s confessional system may cause the Maronites to suffer.  Young believes that the Christian community is too hung up on holding the presidency and that, instead, Sfeir should embrace Walid Jumblatt‘s rotation idea and renegotiate the structure of the Senate now while the Christians are still in a position of strength. 

The Daily Star reports on a study, organized by the Masar Association in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, that shows Islamic movements in Lebanon share many goals with civil society organizations, including “tackling corruption, fighting the misspending of funds and advocating a fair election law.”  The report is a response to the social tension Masar’s youth development program faced from Islamists.  Highlighting Islamic movements’ demographic strengths, the group calls for development agencies and Islamists to build greater cooperation.