The Lebanese Political Scene And Its Implications On The Wider Sphere Of Influence
Lebanon is no stranger to political and social disarrays. The country has been the battlegrounds for internal and regional conflicts since the inception of the modern republic. The nation has suffered several internal strifes that threatening the very existence of the state. For over a century and Lebanon has withered many political storms but was unable to shield itself from most of them.
The current political stalemate of electing a Lebanese president has its roots in the original fabrics of this society which is largely based on communal and feudal leaderships. A short glimpse at the Lebanese history a wide range of hypotheses emerge to the root causes of those maligned cnacer that strike the social fabrics of this small nation.
At first glance, religion seems to be the core issue that alienate the cohesion of its people. Religion has been for years used and abused by many self appointed leaders to solidify and promote the interests of their clans and constituencies rather the interests of the whole population and mostly the benefits and interests of the state. Lebanese fight each others mostly on the basis of the leadership tendencies and their instructions. For too long this leadership has hijacked the voices of most Lebanese and used their supports in gaining political power at the expense of the larger community. The people are not entirely hopeless, but most of them fail to recognize a true and honest politician from a fake and self interested person.
The election of a president is embroiled in internal political bickering and most of all in external pull and push of the regional powers in addition to the United States. Syria, three since its army left the Lebanese soil, however, its moral and political power still overshadow its alliances mostly among the shiaa based organization of Hizballah. Syria still command a network of believers in Arabists and antagonists to Israeli aggressions and American hegemony in the region. Israel, through the United States, has infiltrated the Lebanese political scenes through championing what is called “democracy” and hatred to the Syrian regime that long had been dominating the all political decision makings. As Israel failed to squash Hizballah in its 2006 war against the organization, Syria, and by proxy its sympathizers, seemed to have benefited from the Israeli weaknesses and American retreat in Iraq.
Today we see ourselves facing a somewhat balanced powers inside Lebanon and none seems to gain the upper hand. Iran has also emerged a strong player advancing the opposition causes. America has so far been unable to score big points however American power will not fade anytime soon either. The best way to solve the current deadlock is go back to democratic principles and allow the people to choose their representatives in a non-threatening and forced elections of the president as well as the members of parliaments. Political leaders should agree on fair and honest elections away from sectarian and outside influences. This recipe might be hard to follow, but it might be the only salvation for a country long ruled by self served politicians and by outside manipulators.