For those as impatient as we were, the cabinet discussion begins at 05:10.

It’s finally happened! A mere 252 days in the making and Lebanon has a new government! In the thirty-fourth episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast, Ben and Nizar get to work analyzing the new cabinet. Who were the winners? Who were the losers? Who are the new cabinet ministers, old faces and new? And most importantly, what does this mean moving forward for Lebanon?

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

Budget discussion begins at 18:27.

Welcome to The Lebanese Economics Podcast … Jeremy Arbid, the economics and policy editor at Executive Magazine, joins Ben and Nizar to analyze all the issues surrounding the budget. We promise it’s not as boring as it sounds.

Also discussed in the thirty-third episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast, continuing protests, the failure of the Arab Economic and Social Development summit, Qatar’s pledge to buy $500 million in Eurobonds, Moody’s downgrade for Lebanon, and how to avoid the fiscal cliff.

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

McKinsey begins at 15:06.

As promised, Ben and Nizar have combed their way through over 1200 pages (ok slides) of the McKinsey report to bring you their analysis of the firm’s ‘economic vision’ for Lebanon. Spoiler alert, they found themselves mostly unimpressed.

Also discussed in the thirty-second episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast: the mystery of storm names has been solved, and between the meeting of Christian politicians at Bkirki and the Arab economic summit it seems Lebanon’s political class had little time to think about forming a government.

Read the McKinsey report here https://economy.gov.lb/media/11893/20181022-1228full-report-en.pdf

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

The Lebanese Politics Podcast is back and kicking off season two! Ben has made it safely back into Lebanon just in time to enjoy our second massive storm of the winter season—though he has some déjà vu when it comes to all the criticism of the poor infrastructure in the country.

In fact, it might be a new year, but all the problems are still the same: Lebanon is now in its second longest cabinet formation crisis in its history, the economy seems to be teetering on the brink, and street protests are breaking out once again. Listen to episode thirty-one to get caught up on the latest.

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

Yalla bye begins at 24:03.

What a weekend in Lebanese politics. The thirtieth episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast is our last show of 2018 and we’ve got a lot for you. Nizar is back to help Ben breakdown all the drama in the war of words between former MP Wiam Wahhab and Prime Minister-elect Saad Hariri, which unfortunately escalated into violence.

We also talk the Streisand effect, for those in Lebanon who try and to bury a story through defamation charges and all but guarantee it winds back up in the press. The ongoing dispute between the government and the generator owners also escalated this week, with the seizure of the first two generators for non-compliance. Some good news in the mix: KAFA has secured cross party support for an amendment to the domestic violence law. Cabinet, meanwhile, remains stalled on the question of the six Sunni MPs.

Also out this week, the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE) have released a damning report on the May parliamentary elections, critiquing the law, the implementation of it, and the chaos of the election itself. We take a mini deep dive into the conclusions of the report, given our own start as an elections podcast.

And as this is the last episode of season one—TLPP will be returning for a second season in mid-January—we thought it would be a good time to reflect on the politics of 2018, the obsession with the elections in the run up, and the inability to translate the results into a workable government since. Because really, what was the point of 2018?

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

Refugee fatigue begins at 22:22.

With Nizar globetrotting once again, the twenty-ninth episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast sees regular host Benjamin Redd joined by guest Nasser Yassin, the director of research at the Issam Fares Institute, to analyse the news of the past week before diving deep into an incredibly important topic for Lebanon: refugees.

We start with analysis of the sewage mess in Ramlet el-Baida, the theater of politicians blaming each other, and the oversight role Parliament should be playing, before looking at the other pollution stories, including Zahle’s Berdawni river turning red for the second time this year, Nahr al-Kalb’s stint as green, and the decades of pollution in the Litani. Also covered, an update on the e-transaction law we discussed in episode 26—even the politicians who helped pass it agree the law is flawed—and the latest on cabinet formation, with the ongoing issue of Sunni representation meaning there is no end in sight.

With the Syrian refugee crisis in it's eight year, we look at the impacts, real and perceived, on the host communities, how the media, donors, and the refugees themselves are becoming fatigued, how populist rhetoric is not actually based on the experiences of the poor Lebanese who share their space with Syrian refugees, and why the issue of returns is more fraught than many are willing to admit.

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

Independent Lebanon begins at 17:08.

Happy (almost) Independence Day! It’s been 181 days without a government and this past week hasn’t given us much hope that one will be formed soon.

In the twenty-eighth episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast, Benjamin Redd and Nizar start with analysis of big political speeches by Nasrallah and Hariri and what they mean for cabinet formation—with zero compromise from the former and a surprisingly tough riposte from the latter. Also discussed is Parliament’s new session and passing a law for the disappeared, new funds for EDL, a lawyer’s strike, the shock reconciliation between Frangieh and Geagea, and the US ramping up its anti-Hezbollah rhetoric.

Our main topic—in light of the 75th anniversary of Lebanese independence on November 22— is whether Lebanon has ever truly been an independent state. We go through the history of the past 75 years and analyse why exactly it is that Lebanon lends itself to proxy politics and meddling from the outside.

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

Lebanese lira begins at 12:41.

With no government in sight we asked former CEO and chairman of Standard Chartered Bank in Lebanon, and current Harvard fellow, Dan Azzi to join us to discuss the topic at the back of everyone’s minds—the financial stability of Lebanon and whether the lira will be devalued.

Also in the twenty-seventh episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast, Benjamin Redd and Nizar Hassan analyze the latest on cabinet formation, what’s coming up for Parliament, a temporary solution to the fuel shortage thanks to Algeria’s Sonatrach, striking generator owners and the swift response from the justice and economy ministries, a solution for Mieh Mieh, and an unfortunate interview for caretaker tourism minister Guidanian.

Our deep dive, with the help of Dan, looks at the basics of the Lebanese economy, what the peg means in practice, the role of the central bank in maintaining it, and the consequences or alternatives to floating the currency.

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

Digital privacy begins at 15:46.

Tick tock goes the cabinet clock—with the Christian representation problem solved it seemed like a new cabinet was finally on the horizon but now the issue of Sunni representation has taken the forefront, with Hezbollah staunching refusing to allow cabinet formation to go ahead without a resolution. In the twenty-six episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast, Benjamin Redd and Nizar Hassan analyze whether this was a tactical error on Hezbollah’s behalf, placing the blame for cabinet delay on their door step.

Also discussed is the shocking acquittal of the husband of Roula Yaacoub, who had been accused of beating his wife to death five years ago—and whether the swift response of the state prosecutor was a victory for activist pressure—the scapegoating of Syrians in light of a controversial news report, cuts to electricity due to a lack of government funds for fuel, a new powerplant project by American company PrimeSouth, Jounieh’s ignominious place as the 23rd most polluted city in the world, and newly released figures on refugee returns.

Our main topic this week is digital privacy, with our regular hosts joined by Azza el-Masri, campaigns manger at SMEX—a Lebanese NGO that works to advance self-regulating information societies in the MENA—to discuss the dearth of regulations in Lebanon and the failures of the—not quite as new as it seems—e-transaction law when it comes to protecting the digital privacy of Lebanese citizens.

The SMEX Blog on the e-transaction law can be found at https://smex.org/an-ugly-new-data-protection-law-in-lebanon/

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

Al-Ahed al-Jadid begins at 14:06.

The end of the new era? With cabinet still not on the horizon—and Ben starting to lose hope—we thought we would look at two important anniversaries coming up: two years since Aoun took office and one year since Hariri’s shock, since rescinded, resignation in Saudi Arabia.

But first, in the twenty-fifth episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast, Benjamin Redd and Nizar Hassan discuss the latest in Mieh Mieh, Trump’s signing of HIFPA II, a new law for the Constitutional Council, Aoun and Hariri hitting the lost confidence stage in cabinet formation, and Hariri’s recent visit to Saudi in light of new information about his treatment there last year.

We then dive in deep into al-Ahed al-Jadeed, and the promise of a new era with Aoun and Hariri leading the way. We look at the political context, the seeming successes of 2017 until Hariri’s resignation. We also lay out the evidence that Hariri was held against his will and forced to resign by the Saudis, and what they had hoped to achieve. And with the current political deadlock, we question whether or not this new era was simply putting the train back on a track to nowhere.

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel