During the vote count Sunday for the Public School High School Teachers League Board of Directors election. (Photo Siham Antoun)
The political parties in power won a clear victory Sunday, with their entire list of candidates elected to the board of directors of the League of Teachers of Official Secondary Education. The ballot was described as democratic, but marred by accusations of collusion with the ruling caste, which took place at Zahia Selman school, in Jnah-Bir Hassan.
Until the eve of the election the "Unified Labour Union List" – made up of a coalition of Amal, Hezbollah, the Future Movement, the Progressive Socialist Party and Marada – was unclear about its ability to compete with the other two opposition lists. It had allowed for the possibility of candidates running without forming a list. This gave impetus to the two opposing lists, "The forces of trade union change" and "Moustakilloun (independent)", which launched into a bitter battle against one another. Elias Mondalak, the candidate close to the Free Patriotic Movement (created by President Michel Aoun and chaired by his son-in-law Gebran Bassil), had not been included on the list of political parties. With 17 candidates instead of 18, that list was incomplete, however, leaving the way open for the candidate of the FPM, supported by its allies, notably Hezbollah.
577 delegates, including 100 principals
The rules of this multi-stage ballot make it possible to better understand the stakes of the election. Above all, they clarify the strength of the political class’ hold on the institutions and unions. Thus these institutions have not ceased to denounce the popular uprising since October 17, 2019, notwithstanding the backdrop of the state’s collapse and the unprecedented economic-political-financial crisis. The first stage of the election takes place in the public schools, which must each vote for their delegates. The number of school delegates allocated to each institution depends on the number of secondary school teachers. Thus, every 15 teachers are entitled to one delegate, with 16 teachers being represented by two delegates ... This is the context for 7,000 registered teachers nominating 577 delegates who are entitled to elect a board of directors composed of 18 members.
"Among these delegates, there are more than a hundred principals directly appointed by the ruling parties, particularly the Future Movement, for partisan rather than educational reasons," said opposition candidate Siham Antoun shortly before the election. "There is a conflict of interest. School principals should not have the right to be delegates," said the teacher and activist, who aimed to amend the voting rules.
According to the final results published late Sunday afternoon, 503 delegates out of 577 voted, with votes apportioned thus: Moulouk Mehrez 255 votes, Sahar Serhan 234, Ismat Daou 229, Najeh Rifaï 227, Fouad Ibrahim 227, Ahmad Mahrabouni 226, Ghassan Zeïdan 224, Ghassan Abi Fadel 223, Haïdar Khalifé 222, Mohammad Walid Haffar 221, Antoine Bou Abdallah 213, Firas el-Hass 213, Zein el-Abidine Jammal 212, Richard Abou Mehrez 209, Naji Yassine 209, Haïdar Ismaïl 203, Nidal Abdallah 200, and finally Élias Mondalak 200.
“On average, the two opposition lists total more than the winning list," Antoun noted. The winning list obtained an average of 208 votes per candidate, the forces of union change list 178 votes per candidate, and finally the Moustakilloun list 75 votes per candidate.
All at the bedside of the teachers?
The fact remains that the opposition did not shine on Sunday. The two lists’ accusing one another of collusion with the ruling parties probably had more impact on voters than their programs or candidates. In these times of acute economic crisis, teachers' demands have now taken center stage, appearing on the menu of all three lists.
"We are anxious to work for the rights of teachers," said the Future Movement’s outgoing candidate Moulouk Mehrez, who ultimately won the highest number of votes, on the eve of the election. He explained to L'Orient-Le Jour, "All teachers today have the same salary demands, because their salaries are worth nothing since the collapse of the national currency."
At the heart of the teachers' demands are also health coverage for teachers and their families, transportation allowances and end-of-service allowances, but also the rescue of a public school system that has only opened its doors for two weeks this year, at best because of a teachers' strike.
"Teachers are the most affected by the crisis," Mehrez said. “They have paid a high price. Hence the need for all of us to come together around a single agenda.”
For Fayçal Zayoud, a trade unionist supporting the list of independents, "secondary school teachers have seen what has happened to the profession, since the political parties have absorbed the union.
In about a week, the new board of directors will elect its president, who will succeed Nazih Jebbaoui, whose term ended in mid-January. Will he or she succeed where his or her predecessors failed?
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.