With Lebanon’s parliamentary elections having recently provoked so much controversy for reasons of sectarian representation, little attention has been devoted to how the new Parliament might address urgent economic issues, security, corruption, as well as long-dormant issues directly or indirectly related to development, such as administrative decentralization and a new election law. A preliminary assessment suggests that what might ensue is a mixed bag in terms of economic confidence. There is a general consensus that the 2000 electoral law will recreate the large parliamentary blocs that existed in the previous Parliament, and will in fact go beyond that in favor, specifically, of the blocs headed by Saadeddine Hariri and Hizbullah, which are bound to expand . Indeed, pro-Hariri parliamentarians will very likely form the largest single group in the legislature, and estimates are that once combined with its allies in the Jumblatt bloc, both will control around 80-90 seats. If
