Temporary face-saving is no substitute for statesmanship
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Editorial-Daily Star

No objective observer who has watched the current crisis in Beirut since its inception can accuse either side of having engineered it with malice aforethought. As has frequently been the case throughout the tragic history of Lebanon, the real problem is that while malice is an ever-present component of the Lebanese political climate, there appears in this case to have been no forethought at all. It is especially important to accept this fact as the finishing touches are applied to a package of compromises that, hopefully, will allow all sides to save face. Anyone who cares about the welfare of this country has to be pleased at anything that keeps its squabbling political parties from committing yet another catastrophic miscalculation - but the breathing space it provides must be used for something other than either idle waiting or active preparation for the next confrontation.

There is no need to further complicate the current negotiations by attaching consideration of additional issues. What is required is a collective resolve to get serious about preventing another crisis in the spring or the summer. Unless concerted and genuine efforts are made now, disagreements over a new law to govern the next round of parliamentary elections will bring Lebanon back to the brink of collapse. There is also the matter of how and when a new president will be selected. And over the next few months, those who fail to learn from past experience are surely capable of identifying and trumpeting myriad other matters upon which they and their rivals - wittingly or not - might break Lebanon once and for all.

The key to preventing the train wreck that is the existing system's only inevitable result lies in a profound change of attitude. If the much-ballyhooed "unity government" is to serve any purpose other than that of a short-term palliative, those who agree on it will have to view it as a caretaker body designed to set the sage for a new era of civilized and productive politics. The first priority is levelheaded dialogue on the form, function and timing of the mechanisms that will decide the next Parliament and the next president. The next is a process of platform-building, i.e. getting the parties to produce policy proposals so voters might have some idea of what they are being asked to support beyond the usual fare of demagoguery, tribalism, sloganeering and the like. Each party might also try something novel - like preparing for the possibility of ending up in the opposition after the next elections - by looking into how they might serve the nation's interests in that capacity instead of wasting everyone's time and patience with the tried and failed strategy of tarring the victors as crooks and/or traitors.

It is not surprising that a new grassroots movement has called "I'm somebody with nobody" has sprung to life: The Lebanese people have been badly shaken by recent events, and they are entitled to expect better from their leaders. If the current crop fails to blossom - very quickly - into something more substantial, it would be best to plow it under and start again.