Independent candidates won nine of the 29 student council seats at the Lebanese-American University in Beirut, down from 14 last year, amid low voter turnout after supporters of Hezbollah boycotted elections.
Union and university elections in Lebanon are seen as a barometer of the political mood in the country. The student elections this year are particularly significant as they come months ahead of general election in which independent candidates hope to make significant gains against an entrenched political class.
When independents snatched nearly half of the LAU student council seats last year, their victory was seen as heralding an era of hope for young people in a country marred by sectarian politics and an economic crisis.
Their achievement was bolstered by a wave of mass protests last October, demanding the fall of the ruling elite, better lives and an end to widespread corruption.
Soon after, independent groups won a majority of student council seats at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon’s most prestigious, and made sizeable gains in campuses across the country.
Tamara Nasr, who was elected to the LAU council as an independent in the online vote on Friday, blamed the boycott and smear campaigns for the poor performance by independents this year.
Less than half of LAU students voted amid the boycott.
“Traditional political parties tried to sabotage the candidates and this harmed voter turnout,” she said.
“There were a lot of rumours about us, that we are not really secular or independent, that we are actually Aounists or affiliated to other parties,” she said, referring to supporters of Lebanese President Michel Aoun.
No united front
An expert and students blamed the results on pushback from Hezbollah, the lack of a united front among independent groups – issues that opposition groups have long suffered from – and voter fatigue caused by the country's economic crisis.
Student activist Jana Massoud, of the Minteshreen party, said LAU independents and the university’s Secular Club should have united instead of competing against each other.
“This is the only way to gain people’s confidence and show them they are serious, not just in universities but in politics,” she said. “The opposition must unite.”
Ms Massoud blamed Hezbollah’s boycott campaign for demoralising students into abstention.
“They told students there is nothing you can do anyway, why vote?” she said.
The Iran-backed party wields great influence in Lebanon and is a key player in the country’s sectarian political system.
Hezbollah supporters at the university said the boycott was directed against online voting, which they considered to be silencing their voices. They held protests in front of the university gate with banners that described the election as a “play” and a sham.
Imad Salamey, who teaches political science at LAU, said most political parties, including Hezbollah, opposed online voting because it denied them the direct supervision of voters.
But independents still secured nearly a third of seats, reflecting a wider desire for change among young Lebanese, he said.
Mr Salamey said the drop could be attributed to a “decline of enthusiasm” since mass protests against the political system began in October 2019.
These elections are a first step to saying: yes we do have a say in this country.
Tamara Nasr,
LAU student representative
“At first people thought they could make massive changes fast, but now they are recognising it may need more time,” he said.
While the results reflected public support for political alternatives, change, if any, will be even more difficult to achieve at a national level, Mr Salamey said.
Parliamentary elections in Lebanon are based on sectarian quotas that favour traditional parties.
“It would be much harder for independent voices to win seats in parliament the way those at LAU won seats,” he said.
Despite the challenges, Ms Nasr said she was hopeful that young people can lead change in the country.
“These elections are a first step to saying: yes we do have a say in this country,” she said. "We want the opportunity to build a future when everybody is leaving, trying to find a way out of this country.”
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Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
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GAC GS8 Specs
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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