The Wire

A new era in Lebanese politics was unleashed on the weekend with the election success of the anti-Syria alliance led by Saad Hariri, the son of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a car bomb earlier this year. In the first election since the Syrian troops withdrew in February, the Lebanese people sent a clear sign that they want to go their own way and begin the long process of rebuilding the country after years of internal division. Dr Ahmad Schboul, head of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Sydney University, says the result means the very complex question of what to do with Syria will have to be broached sooner rather than later. He spoke to The Wire’s Paulina Vidal.