What is the core cause for most of Lebanon’s problems?
It is the lack of principles to guide our decisions. The end result is a political gridlock due to conflicting personal benefits and what each side considers to be “in the national interest.“ The solution is to agree on a set of principles as a guide to making future decisions. Then, we judge the validity of a political position by whether it is compatible or contrary to the agreed upon principles. Here are suggested examples:
Principle # 1: “Do all you have agreed to do”
Principle #2: “Do not encroach on other persons or their property”The first two principles should be signed, or agreed upon, by all Lebanese political parties and communities to act as a pre-condition or a basis to all forms of dialogues and co-existence. If they cannot agree on these two lines, or if a side is not willing to do what it agrees to do, or to commit to not attack another, then all forms of dialogues or attempts for peaceful co-existence will be futile. When principles 1 and 2 are widely obeyed, life gets better. When they are violated, life gets worse. It is that simple.
Principle # 3: “Any society in which the guarantee of rights is not assured, nor the separation of powers determined, has no Constitution.” (Article 16, French Declaration of 1789)
Firstly, each side must recognize that the citizen is the source of political power. Therefore, regardless of the problems facing the country, any solution should begin by empowering the citizens and guaranteeing their rights and freedoms through the enactment of a Lebanese Magna Carta or a Bill of Rights.Secondly, meaningful separation of powers and a system of checks and balances is necessary for the proper functioning of government.
In Lebanon, it is illogical for the President to take an oath to defend the constitution while he lacks the means or authority to do so. Amendments must be enacted enabling the president to monitor, hold accountable, and punish governmental institutions where necessary. Institutions such as Tafteesh-al-Markazi, Diwan-al-Mohasaba, and Majlis-al-Khidmah al-Madaniyah should be under presidential authority. However, the Tafteesh-al-Qada’i should be independent. The judiciary’s affairs should be ruled and monitored by judges and lawyers through a mechanism prescribed by them. The primary roles of an independent judiciary are to ensure justice, timely adjudication of trials, and that the government would not enact laws that would abridge individual rights.
Principle # 4: “Avoid foreign entanglements, politically and militarily”
The National Pact agreed upon between Bechara El-Khouri and Riad al-Solh in 1943, includes the following principle: In case of conflict among Arab states, Lebanon should not side with one state against another. Both the Future Movement and Hizballah are in violation of this principle. The first is aligned with Syrian rebels (supported by Saudi Arabia and Qatar) against the Syrian regime — on whose side is Hizballah. This is a perfect example that the core of Lebanon’s problems lie in the refusal to abide by principles. Each side makes its political decisions without reliance on, or respect to, any defined principles. The Future Movement and Hizballah should each provide the Lebanese public with a one-line principle that guide their current foreign policy (which in practice should be reserved only to the Lebanese government).
The 1943 National Pact failed to include Principle #1 listed herein which is to commit parties to do all that they agree to do.
The divisions and conflicts caused to Lebanon by all past and present foreign attachments (without listing them) far outweighed the benefits, if any, received by Lebanon.
Foreign policy cannot be left to individual analysis of what each person considers to be a “national interest.” There is no logic in one side reserving for itself the right to interfere politically or militarily in a foreign nation, or on the side of a foreign entity, while denying to others the right to take an opposite stand. The principle of avoiding foreign entanglements should apply to all. If certain Lebanese believe strongly in a foreign cause and wish to participate in it, then they can relocate to wherever that cause is and stay there. Lebanon cannot be dragged into an unknown destiny because of the analytical wishes of a very few. In the same manner that we reject foreign interferences in Lebanese internal affairs, we should do the same towards the affairs of other nations.
