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.