As usual, both sides are to blame for Lebanon's latest brush with chaos

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Editorial

Once again the people of Lebanon are peering into an abyss of uncertainty opened up by the failings of their political leaders. As The Daily Star went to press on Monday night, the impact of Tuesday's general strike remained a source of worry for many as they pondered the possible repercussions of the latest battle of wills in Beirut.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has trumpeted myriad reasons to buttress the opposition's demand for more say in government. He has been slow, however, to precisely define the policies that he and his allies will enact if and when they have the power to do so. This habit of ambiguity has even extended to the nature of the protests the opposition has been conducting since December 1, meaning that every time the tactics change, a sense of foreboding ripples across much of the country.

The parliamentary majority has likewise trotted out all sorts of reasons to support their coalition's insistence that it should remain at the top of a largely unchanged heap. They have consistently fallen far short, however, of providing the various benefits - economic opportunity, social harmony, political equality, etc. - that are supposed to derive from the high-minded ideals that they claim to champion so avidly. "Democracy" that actively suppresses the representation of certain sub-sectors within society is an empty and insulting slogan. Likewise, MP Saad Hariri's calls to put "Lebanon first" hardly resonate among citizens who believe their country's leadership is no longer representative of the will of the people.

Every political party has the right to make its case, but its arguments should include more than just criticism of the other side - and its means of achieving its goals must respect the welfare of the polity in which it exists. In Lebanon these expectations have been turned upside down, with neither camp taking much notice of the socioeconomic crisis unfolding around - and because of - them as they engage in a fierce but feckless debate about differences that surely exist but are steadfastly ignored. Every political party also has the right to protest, but the current state of the Lebanese model might be too fragile to withstand the resultant pressures. If both sides miscalculate and end up destroying the very country they claim to love, where will that leave private citizens who just want to feed their families?