In Lebanon, the votes in Sunday's parliamentary elections are still being counted, but initial results show that what they were is what Hezbollah will continue to do in the country as it pleases, relying on a corrupt elite of respectable families (the local version of Mafia families in the United States). Which will also continue to control the level of social and state life.
These esteemed families use ethnicity as an ax to dig with and thus they secure their rule.
They often fight among themselves and after every election we witness new faces, but this is a young generation that is no different from its ancestors, or sometimes rival family members who managed to defeat their competitors in the election.
But the essence remains the same, a weak and helpless country and today also failing, which allows the Lebanese elite to continue to do as it pleases.
It should be remembered that the electoral system in Lebanon is complex and even many Lebanese find it difficult to understand.
The elections are regional and communal.
We would each region elect its representatives, but these are divided among the various denominations according to a predetermined division.
In such a difficult reality, there is no chance that a spirit of protest or even a desire for change, which we have witnessed in recent years in Lebanon, will find any expression in the polls.
Hezbollah and its supporters have apparently managed to get the majority they need to form a government.
After all, members of the Sunni Hariri family, the significant force that has faced Hezbollah in recent years, have decided not to participate in the addictive game and not to run in the election at all.
Thus leaving the Sunni community (almost about a third of the country’s population) without effective leadership.
But after all that, the election is a blow to the Hezbollah wing that he will have a hard time ignoring.
First, voter turnout across Lebanon was low and only about 41% of voters bothered to go to the polls.
In the Shiite regions of the country the turnout was even lower.
This can be seen as an expression of anger and even distrust of Hezbollah, which failed in its attempt to mobilize its supporters for a demonstration of popular support.
Second, many of Hezbollah's allies from other denominations lost in the constituencies where they faced opponents who challenged them and their alliance with Hezbollah.
So among the Christians, in which President Michel Aoun's party suffered, so did the Druze.
Hezbollah did not pray for these results, but he will be able to live with them as long as his control of the country is not harmed.
And overall, although there are those among the Lebanese who are celebrating spotty achievements of supporters of change and reform, it is a matter of the joy of the poor and what it was will be.
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