Could Myriam Klink Save Lebanon?

So Myriam Klink is scaring the hell out of us now by promising to run for politics. And like anyone living in this country the thought of  someone with her judgement in parliament terrifies me. And no I’m not gonna jump on the let’s hate on Myriam Klink bandwagon, I’m guessing she has enough of those.

To me the idea of giving power to a woman with such heinous fashion taste,  bad PR and disastrous image management decisions to make vital decisions on a national level makes me slightly uneasy. I’m sure you can relate.

I watched her on AlJadeed’s new show Al Za3eem “الزعيم” which seems like an Arab Idol for aspiring politicians who present themselves in front of a panel of judges and get eliminated accordingly. (a very badly produced concept and show might I add.)

Contestants were tested on their speech skills. Some yelled, others threatened, a few seemed to think they were auditioning for a cheesy Lebanese play only to get royally butchered by the panel of judges who showed no mercy.

And then there was Klink. She stood there, fully clothed, looking mighty professional and gave a very well-rehearsed speech ( you’ll be surprised how good she was compared to the rest) with dramatic and funny hand gestures on two issues she plans to run on. Her first choice impressed me. The environment. She seemed to have a special relationship with nature as her Facebook bio puts it so eloquently

“Myriam Klink is a Lebanese girl from the mountains raised between animals and natures by a loving dad and grand pa who teach her the meaning of respecting life in all its ways….”

But then she said the words I dreaded. Something about women, their rights and well she summed it up with something along the lines of “men have to not forget that they all came from women!”  You know, just in case some men were doubting the birds and bees theory.

But I’m approaching this with an open mind. Of course I’ve made prejudgments based on everything I see about Klink online; the distasteful photos, her obnoxious behavior and the baffling video clips. Does she stand a real chance of winning? Probably not. But could this be her moment to give us something more than Made In Lebanon Paris Hilton, and perhaps even use her star power to bring attention to issues that should really be high on this country’s priority list such as our depleting environment and animal rights? Perhaps. As long as she steers clear from women’s rights.