In the midst of the mire that is Tripoli, LBCI caught the rage of a local who vented all his anger toward the Lebanese ruling strata.

It’s a bunny, no it’s a dog, no it’s a dog with bunny ears…

Well whatever it is, it may just be simpler than Speaker Nabih Berri’s new law proposal.

According to my interpretation or “weak” attempt at trying to understand the law, Berri’s proposal goes as follows:

64 Christian and Muslim deputies will be elected on the basis of the Orthodox Gathering law, while the remaining 64 deputies will be elected on the basis of the majoritarian system divided upon 26 electoral districts.

The division of districts on which the proportionality representation system will be founded remains to be determined (announced).

This is a classic case of what observers or political followers like to call the “Berri Surprise”, or “Berri’s Rabbit trick”…

Just when all political parties reach a deadlock, Berri comes to the “rescue”, adding a dash of the “Berri factor”; a substance only obtainable after one serves 21 years as House Speaker and happens to be as law proficient as the Speaker is!

Well, a little confusion never hurt anybody!

This law/dog/bunny is having an identity crisis but so is the entire country, no?

Well, it seems though I’m not the only one twisting my wits trying to understand it, check out BlogBaladi’s interpretation of the above said law.

According to the Minister’s short announcement via Instagram, “Super Geek is a young Lebanese Geek turned Super Hero… His Mission is to lead the Young Lebanese Digital Lobby to instill change in Lebanon and the World… with the community so we can have all Geeks on board of our Young Digital Lobby.”

In my book, lobbying is the attempt to influence actions of public officials/ servants in the name of a common cause, in hopes of “instilling change,” as Sehnaoui said.

This has been apparent in the Lebanese blogging community since the early days of the digital scene whereby writers would voice their opinions on issues that mattered most to them.

The latest “lobbying en masse” centered on the atrocious Fouad Boutros Highway which was recently given the go ahead despite lacking scientific studies legally required for such projects. If you haven’t heard of this highway that is set to rip the Achrafieh area to pieces then feel free to click here for the full investigation by LBCBlogs. Other bloggers who wrote on the topic include Blog Baladi, Blog +961, A Seperate State of Mind, The Beirut Report, Beirut Spring, among countless others.

My question as a “Super Geek” to Minister Sehnaoui is whether or not he was one of the council members who voted for this project. I want answers in this regard from him both as a Minister and as an Achrafieh local, and the reasons behind his decision regardless of what it may have been. I also would’ve liked to ask Minister Sehnaoui on his stance in regards to the assault of Habib Battah, a blogger who was beaten for wanting to investigate District S in downtown Beirut, Tuesday evening, since in my head Super Geek was all about lobbying for positive change in Lebanon and world. (For those of you who do not know, District S is said to be a construction site currently destroying ancient ruins in Beirut.)

I spoke to Ralph Aoun, Minister Sehnaoui’s By-Media Adviser who confirmed to me that the goal of Super Geek “for now” is only related to digital technology, from issues linked to internet speed, fiber optics and/or even creating an ecosystem for entrepreneurs in Lebanon, ya3ni in a nutshell, it has nothing to do with instilling ‘social’ change as I had hoped. The reasons according to Aoun have all or nothing to do with politics since “right and wrong” differ from one political bloc to another.

-The phone line cuts-
Redial…

My next question was, why limit Super Geek, since his description clearly says “Lebanese Geek turned Super Hero?”

Why not use Super Geek to his (Her) full potential by creating an umbrella for all online lobbyists with regards to getting their content delivered to concerned authorities?

-The phone line cuts again-
Redial…

Ralph answers again and in a delighted manner I say: “let’s just stick to digi-tech lobbying for now”.