Christmas in Lebanon 2007: Head of state tops country’s Christmas wish list

One Lebanese President, and a partridge in a pear tree…

Head of state leads Lebanon’s Christmas list
By Ferry Biedermann in Beirut

(Financial Times ) – “What most Lebanese people want for Christmas is a president,” jokes a comedian dressed up as Santa Claus on the stage of an upmarket nightclub in a Christian suburb of Beirut. It is comedy night and the country’s convoluted political deadlock is an easy target for the performers. The audience seems to be grateful for every bit of comic relief. “We need to laugh because the situation is so tense,” says Antoine Geagea, who shares a last name with a leading Christian politician. The show must go on, even after the killing last week of François el-Hajj, a senior army general. “The bigger the mess, the more they need us,” says Fadi Riady, one of the comics. Lebanon’s parliament on Monday again postponed a vote on a new president, leaving the country without a head of state for more than three weeks. The new date is Saturday but after nine postponements few still believe the question will be settled this year...” Click for full article

Tags: Christmas, financial times, francois el hajj, Head of state, Lebanon