During the municipal elections of May 2016 in Lebanon, a civil society network called Beirut Madinati (Beirut is my city!, hereafter BM) sparked interest by running for office with a list of independent candidates. Embracing a platform promoting ‘transparency and accountability’ as well as gender equity and a code of ethics, these activists may be cast as major innovators on the political scene. So threatening was their political programme that established power brokers belonging to a dozen of political factions felt compelled to present one unified list to counter BM. Although BM narrowly failed to gain any seats on the municipal council, its initiative did send a shockwave into the salons of the incumbent elites, presumably because it put social accountability and local governance issues firmly on the agenda. There is no doubt that the notorious political deadlock in Lebanon (30-months of bickering over the vacant presidency) as well as its dismal delivery of public services (erratic waste management, poor public transportation, soaring energy costs) served as fertile ground for BM. Transforming its lack of political experience into an asset, the movement’s focus on improving urban livelihoods by advocating evidence-based policies and empowering ordinary citizens –ostentatiously including women- did mobilize substantial parts of the electorate. This paper examines objectives and strategies of the BM campaign, its accomplishments and failures. Furthermore, we ask whether this type of CSO-powered activism represents a novel recipe to counter a sclerotic political system marked by sectarianism and dynastic tendencies. Can initiatives such as BM –which is not an isolated manifestation of emancipated citizenship in Lebanese society- aspire to usher in reform of local governance structures and practices? In this respect, the hypothesis may be formulated that while BM’s short-term gains were modest (since none of the list-members got elected), the long-term gains may reside in its function as a ‘challenger-party’ that forced established parties to acknowledge thematic demands rather than communal or material rewards. One can wonder, therefore, if this bottom-up format is suitable as a transferable model to champion social accountability in the MENA region.