A bad seed will not yield a healthy crop

Friday, Oct 30 2009

What is to come of all this waiting? The Lebanese people are sick of counting the days, indeed the months, which are passing without the creation of a national unity government or a coalition government comprising the political powers which emerged from the post-elections parliament. The Doha agreement may have lanced the political boil but the inflammation remains. This talk is not new nor surprising. We previously stated, following the Doha agreement in 2008, that the agreement reached in the Qatari capital brought peace to the political arena and calm to the streets. The agreement thus helped the Lebanese people to sidestep a civil explosion, which none of the politicians could bear, nor indeed the regional and international players who put aside their interests in order to cooperate on diffusing the situation.

However, the current political reality, with all due respect to the important result which was the election of President Suleiman, shows once again that consensus on the parliamentary elections and their law with all its divisions, is the main reason for what is happening today in the political arena, namely the governmental vacuum with its serious dangers, particularly given that the Taef agreement had assigned to the government all the responsibilities related to the running of the state, the institutions and and all bodies related to the work of the state. So where is the way out of this given that everyone is stuck between one mandate or another and that the Lebanese people themselves have no say in the consultations for which, indeed, the politicians themselves can find no justification. Thus, everyone finds themselves stuck in this cycle!

The desires of the March 14 group (or what is left of this group) do not seem to be working in accordance with the slogan of "the need to respect the results of the elections" and on the basis that there is a parliamentary majority and a minority. One of the pillars of the 'majority', the leader of the Democratic Movement, MP Walid Jumblatt, has repeatedly stating that he will not participate in a unilateral government and neither he nor his bloc will vote for such a government in parliament at the completion of the vote of confidence. And thus, it is not a matter of concession or gratitude for a national unity government - if indeed one is formed - to bow to the demands of the power who still calls its 'the majority' to 'monopolize' the government. This would only lead to a majority government of one type (unilateral). President Suleiman has repeatedly assured that he will not sign off on a unilateral government. And so why the beating around the bush regarding the current governmental crisis?

The problem lies in the fact that some of the Lebanese politicians are living as though the country has not experienced, over the past five years, enough crises and has not seen a variety of external interference. It seems that some do not like the idea of changing this behaviour. Experience should have taught the Lebanese people that when external interests get caught up with internal ones, the external ones dominate - such as the use of agents to promote specific interests - so that Lebanon remains a hostage to the interests of those promoting the interests of these states.

This personal and factional way of thinking also becomes dangerous when it is applied to an economic policy in as seen in accepting any change which takes into consideration the dangerous financial and economic crisis which is shaking the Western world with all its repercussions on the Arab countries, including Lebanon. I do not intend to emphasize the economic aspect here; rather I would like to state the fact that the dire living conditions, the health issues and the social problems are all examples of the intellectual style in which the country's affairs are being run and which are leading to the loss of people's livelihood. Some politicians believe that the multiplicity of Lebanese society and its diversity can be used now and again. This capacity, with all its great importance for Lebanon, is also unfortunately a game in the hands of some politicians to be used when needed to balance the scales of power and to achieve a factional break in Lebanese society. This possibility is borne out of our country's multiplicity and diversity.

How can we expect any government to be formed given that the parliamentary elections were managed and carried out with a mentality of personal interests and 'exclusive agents'? Have we in the National Dialogue Party not warned repeatedly since the first assignment of PM designate Saad Hariri that if the situation remains the same with regards to the way in which the consultations, communications and disputes are being carried out, then such a situation will only be solved by the convening of a third Doha conference? Despite this, we hoped for a positive outcome from the Saudi-Syrian summit which was convened in Damascus between the Saudi monarch and the Syrian president. This took place against a background of first overcoming the obstacles, for the Saudi monarch understands well the difficulties which face the leader of the Future Movement, the heir of the martyred Rafik Hariri, as it also knows the the problems behind the hesitation in the formation of the government whether during the first assignation or in the current second one.

The wisdom of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques has paved the way for the PM designate to overcome what may be an obstacle - or what some around him and those left of his allies in the March 14 group - see as an obstacle. Damascus' doors are open to work on improving relations with Syria, particularly now with the current regional difficulties with Israeli threats escalating as shown in the latest statement by the IDF Chief of Staff, Gabi Ashkenazi, that he “cannot guarantee calm along all of Israel's borders'. This shows the necessity for Saad Hariri to put behind him the years of estrangement with Damascus - and we trust that we will leave the matter of the investigation into his father's murder to the international tribunal - and to work on creating the government as quickly as he possibly can. A government is needed to administer the country's institutions rather than a private company belonging to the March 14 group or to any other political group; a government that will work for all the Lebanese people without any distinction or discrimination.

Lebanon is like a beautiful painting with its diverse society and cultural and social diversity. However, this picture becomes unattractive if one component is removed from it. No one will escape the repercussions of trying to cancel out one of its components. If such attempts fail, everyone will return to their natural role - even the sectarian politicians and the exclusive agents - in the democratic game. But if such attempts succeed, then these will fall and with them, so will Lebanon.

So let factional thought and exclusive agencies, sects and confessions, and factional policies all fall, and let us protect Lebanon's diversity and the unity of its components through true democratic work... Let us await new parliamentary elections under a new electoral law which will give everyone their rights without cancelling out the votes of full segments of the population or marginalizing the political institutions working on the ground and let us live in real democratic competition... This will be done under a government for all Lebanon... Unfortunately, this will not happen today because a bad seed will not yield a healthy crop.