Is politics debatable in Lebanon?
Politics has always been related to the way political actors use their words to convince the audience. Hence, when it comes to political campaigns, candidates have to face each other through a “debate”. A political debate is a formal discussion in a public meeting or legislative assembly between two or more persons who are with or against a certain topic. The purpose of the political debate is to stimulate and educate voters. These two advantages lead to help convincing the audience (voters) in order to vote for the one, who according to them, is more credible and accurate.
In the United States, the presidential debate is active among political actors during elections. However, in Lebanon, it only happens in an indirect way, through television programs or radios, but it is never official for the audience to understand the real point of view of politicians. In fact, whenever an accidental debate occurs between two Lebanese politicians, the real action begins. Shouting and yelling start to dominate the scene, instead of using rationality and real arguments. The problem of some Lebanese politicians is that emotions and aggressiveness always come on top of the debate, which contradicts the actual ways of interacting in a debate. According to Sonya Sabbah, a certified Executive and Behavioural Coach; first, to lead a debate, one must know the facts of the required topic, as in doing an excessive research about it before debating. Second, one should be ready to see other people’s perspective and focus on how the other person thinks. Third, if one can’t be open-minded, at least he/she should act that way. And finally, one of the most important factors is to keep the emotions under control.
Moreover, some requirement should be applied during a debate. They include the important of eye contact with the opponent, making hand gestures in the right moments, the different tones of the voice, and lastly the power of pause in speaking during the speeches. Some of the Lebanese politicians have gotten it in a wrong way. The hand gestures are used in a violent manner such as throwing chairs and stuff at the opponent. Also, the tones would be extremely in a high pitch. Lebanese politicians are used to treat each other that way during a debate without actually trying to throw a useful and non-embarrassing one. This must be tough to every soon-to-be politician in order to know the requirements of it. In Lebanon, politicians should begin to use these verbal political methods to send the right point of view and message to the audience in order to understand more and decide which one they are convinced to vote for.
