“Bassil_Doesn’t_Represent_Me” Hashtag Trends Twitter in Lebanon

Lebanon's acting Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil is facing a popular anti-campaign after being invited to participate in the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

The three-day forum is held under the title of "The Return of Arab Unrest”.

The forum will focus on how protests around the region can be translated into a positive road map for political change.

The choice of Bassil to represent Lebanon in this platform caused huge outrage among the Lebanese people; many of them took to social media to tell the forum they think Bassil has no business being there.

Moreover, more than 18,000 participated in a Twitter poll, in which over 75% said he doesn’t represent them. Online petitions against his participation collected nearly 50,000 signatures.

One petition said that Bassil, in his position as a minister and chairman of one of the largest Lebanese parties, "has shown no intention of reform", hence "it is not appropriate to grant him legitimacy to consolidate his authority and to speak on behalf of  the Lebanese people who reject and accuse him of corruption."

The Lebanese people also blamed the acting foreign minister for "tragic major decisions that brought the country to a political crisis which would lead to its bankruptcy."

It is worth mentioning that, since last October, the Lebanese people have taken to the streets to protest against political corruption, high unemployment rates, austerity, sectarianism and a deepening recession among other basic human rights such as lack of stable running water and 24-hour electricity, a crisis the country has experienced for nearly 30 years.

Last December, Lebanese President Michel Aoun asked university professor Hassan Diab to form a new government after consultations with parliamentary blocs.

But so far Diab has failed to form the government due to political bickering among the various Lebanese political parties.

The recent wave of anger has worsened the crisis in Lebanon, which is facing economic and political turmoil, seen as the worst crisis since the 1975 to 1990 civil war.

Since last October, Lebanon is facing a sharp political crisis with the continuous failure of politicians to form a government that would calm protests sweeping the country.

Though the political elite has named Diab, former education minister, as its next prime minister, with the initial support of the Iran-backed Hizbollah paramilitary group, he hasn’t got so far the approval or support of Sunni block led by ex-PM Saad Al-Hariri.