09 April 2011

BEIRUT: Rival camps are mobilizing their supporters in the run-up to Sunday’s elections of the Beirut Order of Engineers, as the competing tickets attempt to secure the backing of independent engineers.

The contest will pit a candidate list headed by the Free Patriotic Movement candidate, Elie Bsaibes, who is backed by the rest of March 8 parties, and the ticket headed by the Lebanese Forces’ candidate, Imad Wakim, who is supported by other March 14 allies.

The two camps will compete for the order’s presidency, along with five other posts in the order’s general assembly.

Observers are expecting a close race since the Progressive Socialist Party has sided with the March 8 coalition and intensified this year’s competition.

Rabie Aasrawi, who heads the gathering of engineers affiliated with the PSP, said that the fact that the party would support the March 8 list gave momentum to the contest.

“This year’s competition is extremely fierce … you have to remember that we are standing with [the March 8 coalition] this time,” Aasrawi explained, as he expected that the eventual winning ticket would see a narrow victory. “I believe that many people will not vote for the complete list of either camp.”

Bilal Alayeli, who currently heads the order and enjoys the backing of the March 14 coalition, said that while the competition reflected the political divisions in the country, the winning side would work for the interest of the order.

He stressed that the polls would be held amid a democratic atmosphere.

Asked about some of the achievements he made during his three-year term, Alayeli said the order’s reserves had risen from LL150 billion to LL266 billion, adding these funds were being used to increase retirement pensions.

The order joined the International Federation of Consulting Engineers and its system for registering formalities has also been modernized, Alayeli added.

According to Alayeli, 36,000 engineers were registered in the order, 28,000 of whom have paid their subscriptions for the previous year and are thus eligible to vote, although it is expected that between 12,000 and 13,000 will actually cast their votes. In line with custom, the head of the order for this round will be a Christian.

For his part, Bsaibes told The Daily Star that the order suffered from many financial problems, taking issue with Alayeli’s claims. “Social benefits and retirement salaries [for engineers] have not increased … are the engineers satisfied with this situation? Or do they want to vote for a new path? I am a candidate for change,” he said.

Bsaibes said his agenda focused on addressing the order’s needs, while accusing his rivals of politicizing the battle in a bid to secure victory.

Speaking at Habtoor Grand Hotel Friday when wrapping up his campaign, Bsaibes promised to work on enhancing the role of the order as one of the country’s professional associations, as well as bolstering the status of the order’s offices outside Beirut, as part of a “decentralization” effort.

He accused the March 14 coalition of bringing a large number of engineers from abroad to take part in the polls.

Bsaibes said that he had demanded the placement of a curtain in voting booths during Sunday’s poll, but that his demand had gone unheeded.

Bsaibes’s agenda, which is posted on his website, includes lobbying the government to issue executive decrees on public safety and adopting a transparent financial policy.

With the competition getting fiercer, both camps are trying to bring independent engineers to their sides.

An engineer who preferred to remain anonymous told The Daily Star that he had been receiving text messages and phone calls from both camps urging him to vote for their candidates.

Several thousand engineers affiliated with the Future Movement and March 14 coalition attended the Future Movement’s annual dinner at the Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure center Wednesday. In attendance were caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri, LF leader Samir Geagea, Wakim and Alayeli. Wakim and Alayeli also attended a luncheon Thursday organized by Hariri at his residence in Downtown Beirut in honor of engineers, contractors and owners of consultancy firms.

Meanwhile, Wakim told The Daily Star that he had announced his candidacy only a few weeks ago to give a chance for a consensus candidate to emerge. “But the [country’s] political situation led to this polarization,” he said.

Wakim said the interests of the order should come first, regardless of who wins or loses. “The battle will finish, and problems of the order will surface.”

Wakim said that he would work on allowing the order to present its “technical opinion on national issues, such as natural gas exploration and the electricity problem.”

Organizing engineering specializations and increasing the order’s funds are on Wakim’s agenda as well.

Wakim highlighted the need for the order’s executive council to give up some prerogatives to the financial, administrative and other committees.

Amid the intense competition, some parties have decided to quit the race.

Fakhr Dakroub, an engineer from the Lebanese Communist Party, told The Daily Star that his party had decided to boycott the elections. “At a time when we are struggling to abolish political sectarianism, both sides are trying to mobilize supporters through enhancing sectarian feelings … we can never play such a role.”

Beshara Samaha, an engineer, announced during a news conference Friday that he was dropping out of the race as well.

Copyright The Daily Star 2011.