Good Morning Sydney... And Aoun

This morning I woke up fresh and early, 6:30am Sydney Time (9:30pm Beirut Time). As I was pouring milk delicately over my Weet Bix, I thought I would watch the sunrise program on channel 7, as I turned on the tv Marchel Ghanem's oh so familiar voice came blaring out of the speakers in my quiet lounge room. It was mabashar, an interview with The Generale, Michel Aoun... My dad was watching LBC the night before.

Aoun has so much energy for a 74 year old. He speaks with passion, he speaks with determination as he attempts to get his point across over Marchel Ghanem's "question within a question" blitz. Well groomed and still patient with a sense of humour after so many years of war and politics. Not bad for a man from Hrait Hreik.

He continued talkinga about the current tug-of-war discussions with Shi-ite leader Nabih Berri regarding the allocation of christiam naweb (representatives) in the upcoming elections. Well they were not so tug-of-war-ish in the eyes of Aoun, who said that Berri calls him not an 'Ally' but an 'Ally Ally' (Reminded me of that tv series The Wonder Years, when asked "do you like him or do you like him like him"). He even went further by showing documents to emphasise that his allocation entitlements were guaranteed in the round of Doha talks.

What surprises me most is Hezbollah's cool and relaxed demenour regarding Aoun and Berri's 'negotiations'. As if they were not the Hezb's two most important Allies in the opposition's creatively named March 8 bloc. I even read that the Hezb was willing to give away a representative of theirs in the Jnoub if need be. Kind of symbolises the fact they know they pull the shots in Lebanon, especially after the May 2008 street 'battles'.

Regardless on how the allocation progresses in the Jnoub, I think there tends to be more unity in the March 8 camp then the March 14 camp, which will be left for another time to discuss...