Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s decision to boycott the country’s May 15 elections will give anti-establishment politicians and pro-Hezbollah figures an opportunity to enter Lebanon’s parliament, which could spark violence if Hezbollah uses intimidation to support its Sunni allies. On Jan. 24, Hariri announced that he and his Sunni Future Movement party would not run in upcoming parliamentary elections for the first time since the end of the country’s civil war in 1990. Per Lebanon’s electoral system, the seats freed up by Hariri’s party must be filled by other Sunnis, but there is currently no party with a major following in the community that goes beyond the pro- and anti-Hezbollah political alliances of the past. Hariri’s exit from Lebanese politics thus leaves a major hole in the country’s political establishment, with no clear leader for Sunnis in the wings....
