To all of those who are not noticing the change in Lebanon. What is happening?
I've been wanting to write a post since yesterday morning, but I got swamped with work; so here's my piece of mind:
We are starting to see the first glimpses of change in Lebanon, despite the turmoil, the silent unrest, and the wait-and-see attitude everyone is taking.
First, weren't you all shocked to read/hear what our Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said about his meeting with U.S. State Department official David Welch? It was for the first time a pretty amicable press conference, especially coming from a minister who is backed and blessed by Hizbullah and Amal. He started the press conference by saying, "We did not disagree on any point with the Americans." Then he extolled Lebanon's relationship with the U.S., historically and strategically. I was amazed and couldn't believe what I was hearing. I guess for the first time, we are truely listening to the real Lebanese foreign policy line.
Second, today in the news President Lahoud stated (of course through his favorite mouthpiece, former Minister Wadih Khazen) that he has full confidence in PM Seniora's wisdom to handle the Palestinian security issue. Wow! Again, another exclamation. PM Seniora indeed has proven to all of us his wisdom: he not only has broken the ice with Lahoud and defied all odds and sat on one table with him to hash out pertinent issues away from political polarization and for the sake of Lebanon's interest, but he also has handled the recent Syrian and Palestinian issues in such a surprising way. He has disproved many who said that Seniora and his Cabinet cannot accomplish anything with Lahoud's presence.
It has been always understood that the Sunni Prime Minister in our recent history is an advocate of everything Arab, especially on the issues of the Syrian involvement/tutelage and the Palestinian question, of course to the resentment of the Christians. This time around, he not only has put a limit to and drew a thick red line on the Palestinian militancy/threats on Lebanese soil, but he also has outstandingly spoke for all Lebanese when he snubbed Syrian threats towards him and Lebanon. He said to the press, "I have never heard of the Tichrine newspaper (official Syrian newspaper) and have never read it." And then when asked what his thoughts were regarding Kanaan's suicide, he simply said, "Allah Yirhamoo" (May he rest in peace). And this is why we see, and I have the feeling, that PM Seniora has gotten the buy-in from most Lebanese (of course, but for a number of groups, especially the Hizbullah/Amal faction).
One more striking note was the scene in the Parliament two days ago during the government accountability session. For the first time we see Ministers and the Prime Minister explaining and justifying to Parliament (and the public) their policies and decisions pertaining to the issues that MPs were inquiring about. For the first time, we see a Prime Minister standing in front of everyone explaining in details and figures the consequences and impacts of this or that policy move (such as subsidies, impact on budget, etc.)
MPs might not have been satisfied with the Ministers' responses, but we should at least note that yes there has been a paradigm shift, a holistic change in the way things are done. Even House Speaker Nabih Berri, I felt at least, was jealous of such transparency and dynamism that he tampered with the agreed protocol letting MPs ask questions on the spot, as opposed to submitting their inquiries ahead of time to the cabinet to prepare its response adequately. And he also cut the session short, 1.5 hours.
We cannot deny it; Lebanon is on the right track. Ministers are starting to reflect a true Lebanese policy line and the Parliament is reflecting more of what the poeple want to know and has regained its stance as an equal partner with the Executive branch.
Thanks to FPM and Aoun's parliamentary bloc for pushing forth the government accountability demand and thanks to PM Seniora for accepting this request whole-heartedly and for complying with it. What we need right now is a President who can show us a new face for this new and emerging independent Lebanon.
"Nobody knows how many rebellions, besides political rebellions, ferment in the masses of life which people earth."
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6 comments:
I am really happy and grateful for the Israeli withdrawal, but Hezbollah is getting on my nerves these days. It's spoiling the political capital that it earned through the blood of its fighters.
What happened to this Shia national gathering that was created in May?
I agree with your assessment of Mr. Seniora. I go further and say in Lebanon's recent history he is an exception. I hope that his performance will set a standard for other politicians. It is about time they exercise their responsibilities in a business like attitude towards the affair of the state and steer away from the tribal, feodal way of doing politics. It is about time they put the interest of the state and of the people before their personal vendetta.
Hopefully this change you described becomes a norm in Lebanese politics and necessary legislations are defined to set the relationships and responsibilities of various authorities of the political system. I am referring here to Mr Seniora comment on division of authorities. I believe without a clear definition and separation of authorities there will always be the risk of this deadlock that Lebanese politis experienced in the last a few years. Let's be hopefull for the future.
doha,
i also noticed what you articulated on your post, and am pretty excited about it. Watching a sincere parliamentary discourse that was not hollow because everyone participating in it knew that decisions were made elsewhere is one of the best tangible outcomes from the Syrian withdrawal.
Seriously, forget all of the problems that we face as a country and society; the sight of parliamentarians and government officials hashing things out in Parliament in a civil and relatively educated manner makes me very pleased and proud. Where else in our God forsaken region can you witness a similar process?
Anyways, lets not get too giddy! We need to start seeing economic rewards pretty soon, as well as a cessation of terrorist acts. Unless these two developments materialize, those positive political steps that were mentioned in this post will simply fizzle away.
i agree that saniora has shown himself a proper statesman and provided surprising manoeuverability.
but i will only believe in a paradigm shift when i see him throwing out that ridiculous jumblatt out of his bloc. can you believe his speech over ghazi kannaan!?!? thanking him for the old days and thanking him for "ending the tamarrud" of aoun in 1990! this guy is still living in the past, and he is a dangerous trojan horse to any change.
i am not being able to syndicate your site.
RSS reader sayd there's a problem with your script
Debate is great and very useful of course.
It helps bring out light (solutions) and reduces demagogy and idiocy.
We need more of it in parliament but also elsewhere. The press needs to get in on this more seriously (see my latest post on Joumblatt and his incoherent destructive statements)
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