Are Lebanon and its system doing well?

Friday, Feb 12 2010

The Syrian president, Bashar al Asad, in his conversation with the American publication 'The New Yorker' directly addressed the complaints of the Arab and Muslim world when he spoke of the virus of sectarianism which is spreading in the region and the necessity of removing all those factors which seek to differentiate between the Arabs and the Muslims. Such strife works to undermine Arab national security and to destroy what remains of the Arab ability to face the Israeli threat which is getting stronger and which is causing further sectarian division amongst the Arabs and Muslims in all countries of the world.

This clearly applies to Lebanon which suffers from the prioritization of sectarian, confessional and denominational rights over those of the state and its citizens, which goes a long way towards explaining the civil conflicts which are breaking out all over our country. The decay is already within the system which has been in place since Lebanon was established in 1943. We have suffered civil wars for years, interspersed with periods of calm, some of which were extended periods following some agreement; this constituted an opening for the creation of fanaticisms which soon exploded into civil conflict and fighting along sectarian lines and across all areas. Is Lebanon immune from this scourge which is currently sweeping across Iraq and moving from one Arab country to the next, whether under the title of sectarianism or under the slogan of minority rights, but every time and particularly since the war in Iraq began in 2003, creating divisions between the Muslims themselves – between the Sunnis and the Shiites? Has this conflict not been knocking loudly on Lebanon's door since the assassination of the late Rafik Hariri? And, under what title can we interpret the various events which have rocked the Lebanese people in a civil conflict which threatened to destroy Lebanon and its people numerous times over the past five years?

On what basis was a new electoral law sought for the parliamentary elections in Lebanon at the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century? This is a hugely flawed law which will promote sectarian, confessional and factional conflict, and is one which had previously been vetoed by General Fouad Chehab, the original reformer. If today's politicians had read the description by Mr. Chehab of this law and his refusal to participate because of it they would have bowed their heads with shame. Mr. Chehab, in is famous letter in which he refused to stand for the presidential elections of 1970 under the 1960 electoral law, wrote as follows: “The Lebanese political institutions and the traditional values which relate to political action no longer constitute, in my opinion, a valid tool for the advancement of Lebanon, as our system has been bypassed by new systems in the pursuit of effective government, and our electoral laws have been imposed by transient and temporary rules (…) All of this does not open the way for serious work on the national level.”

And so, what can we read in the public rejection of and in the war of words on the invitation of the Speaker of the House, Nabih Berri, to create an association for the abolishment of political confessionalism as part of the implementation of this basic principle of the Taef accord? How do the rejectionists explain their rejection of the abolishment of political confessionalism without raising the concerns of the sects and of the Lebanese citizens? And, how should we interpret the rejection by the ministers of the national unity government of any provision in the Ministry of Interior's plan to fix some of the terms of the old electoral system based on the municipalities?

Is it possible for us to say that everything is going on in the country according to the Taef constitution without any additions or subtractions? Our country is branded by a sectarian system while our politicians hold on tightly to their sects and communities for the sake of ensuring their interests and those of those close to them! If we reflect and look carefully for example at the issue of the Dar Al Fatwa and the accusations of corruption which were raised, do we not find is surprising that the defenders are not calling on the 'dignity' of this Dar and can provide no support or documentary evidence to remove the shame from those involved in the accusations? Had we been living in a safe and healthy system, would it possible for there to be an institution, with its own budgets and incomes, and without any surveillance of its funds, which did not touch sectarianism for the same of protecting some people? Would the charges against the Grand Mufti Sheikh Muhammad Rashid Qabbani have angered the public and specifically the Sunnis had there been serious and responsible dealing with this issue? And would most of the Muslims have made an issue of the 'scandal' had the response been immediate calling for Mr. El Hoss to launch an investigation into accusations related to covering up corruption in Dar Al Fatwa?

An issue like that of the Dar Al Fatwa has so far grown and developed in an atmosphere of ignorance and silence as to the truth of the matter and effective ways to solve the problem. Proof of this lies in the passing of months with no apparent results to refute or confirm the accusations. And so, it is an issue like all the other issues in this country to which people are turning a blind eye under the justification of maintaining the sect and their dignity. This is despite the fact that any independent regulatory body would be able to determine the issue and identify the error and corruption in a bid to preserve the rights of the citizens of whichever sect they belong, without allowing corruption to rule over our institutions. If the Lebanese system would allow the punishment of every violation no matter what or where it occurs, then our crises would not be transformed into tragedies. For example, is it possible to remain blind to the problem of the “Sheikh” Abd al Fatah and certain towns in the Beqaa - would he have dared to behave as he did had he not known that his religious leadership would gather round him?

The National Dialogue Party welcomes the reconciliations and communications between the various political groups which took place recently. Further reconciliations are required and inter-Sunni as well as Sunni-Shiite understanding are necessary to remove the burdens from the citizens' shoulders, thus helping to neutralize the differences and conflicts. An incident such as that in the Beqaa and the Dar Al Fatwa crisis show that the Sunnis should not be ignored amidst the current reconciliations. It seems clear that the course of the current government cannot satisfy the Lebanese people who are looking to regain the rights which they have lost due to the various political conflicts.

And so what of, for example, the frequent governmental meetings which have not seen any progress on any of the proposed issues. We may mention in particular, the issue of the municipal elections and the Minister of Interior's plan to introduce amendments to the old electoral law. It should be noted that none of the provisions listed by the Ministry of Interior include lowering the voting age, and these do not originate in the Lebanese constitution. As such, the discussions taking place in the Cabinet do not show the necessity of what is needed. The implementation of the constitution is the most important issue and there is a real risk that this constitutes a prelude not to delaying the municipal elections but rather to cancelling them! The immobility which is affecting all the government makes itself felt in various issues, at the forefront of which are those related to the people's living, health and social conditions. The government is behaving as though it has completed its tasks after the publication of its ministerial statement, for which many of the ministers fought hard over the course of five months. We feel that this approach would not have been able to continue after the establishment of this government were it not for the continued betting by the political forces in the government on factional, sectarian and confessional sentiments and using them to create the right conditions for ensuring their own private interests.

President Asad described the state of the ummah and stated that it was the right of the peoples of the Arab and Muslim region to feel reassurance, security and safety that any sectarian factors will be removed to make way for promoting coexistence between the various groups and communities. In conclusion, we at the National Dialogue Party feel that the hope of Lebanon lies in the energies of the civil community, whether associations, parties or independent figures, to refuse to make the people pay the price of the deadlock in the governmental work and to work on ending this determination to keep the internal situation a hostage to the political agreements. We once again state our belief that the solution lies only in the implementation of the Taef agreement in every one of its articles. Only then will it be possible to defend Lebanon and its system well.