Lebanon’s political leaders agreed to tone down their war-like rhetoric during the campaign for the June 7 parliamentary elections. Officially at least, all are trying to respect a code of good behaviour agreed in Doha last year, when they temporarily buried their differences to pull Lebanon back from the brink of civil war.

But it takes only a drive along Beirut’s streets and its surroundings to discover just how little reconciliation has taken place over the past year. The lingering tensions, the fear of opponents and the dramatically different visions of Lebanon held by the two main camps – the March 14 alliance of parties that holds the parliamentary majority and their rivals, the March 8 opposition – are on dramatic display at street corners.