Elections fever hit private universities

November marks the month of excessive meetings, alliances and preparation for student elections that are scheduled in most private universities sometime during mid-November.

At the American University of Beirut (AUB), political groups are running their traditional “round of meetings” in which all groups meet each other as a sign of “first comes dialogue” and reminding each other of the political messages that they intend to convey inside the university.

Then comes recruitment. Parties start convincing students of joining their groups. Two criteria are usually required for the new recruits: political beliefs and popularity on campus. If these two conditions were met, then the party would certainly use all arguments to convince the student to join.

Political parties in AUB build up list under their own name. This list aims at attracting the coverage of the media. The more this list wins seats, the more the political party or group can prove its influence over students in a prestigious university like AUB.

But political groups are not restricted to forming their own lists. They rather tend to influence “independents” who have more chances for election. Parties promise independents support. Regardless if the party end up supporting this candidate or not, once the independent makes it to the Student Representative Committee (SRC), the party would come back asking for a favor in return: “We voted for you and you should now vote for our candidates to the University Student Faculty Committee (USFC).”

Parties also try to push the biggest number they can of their supporters during the second round of student elections in AUB, the USFC elections.

“The most important of all, is that no matter what party sweeps elections and prides itself in front of the media, none of these parties did any activity in the interest of students after past elections,” a student who preferred to remain anonymous told Alternative. -- S. M.