As student elections continue across Lebanon, student clubs, both independent and those affiliated with mainstream sectarian political parties, continued vying for seats in student councils.
In the Saint Joseph University, eyes were focused on the highly contested Faculty of Law and Political Science (Faculté de Droit et Science Politique) and the Institute of Political Science (Institut de Science Politique).
Independent, secular, and progressive list named Taleb (Demand) was able to secure a major victory in the faculty, scoring 182 seats in the faculty, and 29 seats in the Institute of Political Science.
Lebanese Forces-affiliated lists won in other campuses by acclamation, meaning that a few or no other groups were running for elections in these other campuses’ faculties, while Taleb also won the speech and language therapy faculty by acclamation.
Continued Presence of Independent Movements
The results reflected that the independent, progressive movement in Lebanon is still managing to maintain organizational presence and even secure victories across the country’s educational institutions.
This comes in the background of back-to-back wars and crises that rolled back the momentum of the country’s independent organizational scene and saw a momentary hike in extremist or polarizing politics.
At the American University of Beirut, independent, secular groups also saw victories. The Secular Club, for example, secured three seats on the University Student Faculty Committee (USFC), including the Secretary position of the USFC cabinet.
What remains to be seen is how sociopolitical matters develop in the country over both short and long terms. A renewed wave of war, a change in the current deteriorated economic situation, or a potential reinvigoration of demonstrations across the country could pull the political organizing scene in different directions, with important translations at the youth level.
