Monday, February 28, 2005

The Challenge Lies Ahead of Us Now

I still feel that I cannot completely celebrate any "victory." We are but at the low end of a steep hill that lies ahead of us. Now that Karami's government has resigned, Lebanon will be facing the real test. Here are several questions and thoughts on my mind at the moment:

How will the neutral government that everyone is asking for look like? Some have nominated Hoss to take on the lead due to his neutrality, but would he agree to lead this government? He already stated that he does not look forward to heading any government in the future; he made that decision in 2000. Who will be the Ministers who would agree to get on board?

That neutral government, I believe, would have the most challenging and trying tasks to see through: drafting and passing the electoral law, holding and overseeing fair parliamentary elections, pushing through the late premier Hariri's assassination investigation, negotiating on a national/international levels the Syrian withdrawal, and overseeing the Syrian withdrawal/redeployment (to say the least for now).

In my own view: Lahoud should bid us farewell and I find Mikhael Daher as an "acceptable" nominee. He is moderate in his relations with Syria; he joined the Opposition Front as of last week and his speech today before the Parliament has proved his strong nationalist stand.

Let us pray all goes well.

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