29 March 2012
The all-too-familiar rhetoric in the latest chapter of Lebanon’s electricity crisis came to a head this week with Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Energy Minister Gibran Bassil both standing staunchly by their claims that their respective plans are the best for the country.
Despite all the research and committee investigation that has apparently gone into these plans, in the face of such claims the Lebanese people in reality have little choice other than take their politicians at their word, which, if history is any kind of indicator, is not all that trustworthy.
Resolving the problem of electricity production should be a technical issue, not a strategic one, with clear calculations as to the best way to create the power that Lebanon requires.
Instead the Cabinet has turned the issue into the same old mud-slinging exercise and the source of ever more intra-Cabinet feuds.
This Cabinet took over with a majority but has left facing this issue, one of the most pressing that the Lebanese people face, until now. Instead of getting down to business on electricity as a priority, it has spent its time bickering about posts, appointments, foreign policy and other issues of no benefit to Lebanese.
The Cabinet seems determined to have a hand in solving problems from the Atlantic to the Arabian Gulf and meanwhile ignores the issues under its nose.
It only takes a look at the strikes that have taken place this week and are planned for the coming days to see the pressing nature of issues that this government is paying no heed to.
At last a tentative agreement over the electricity plan, and with no real details or figures to back it up was reached, the Lebanese have no way of deciphering who might be right or wrong in this situation. Both sides cannot be correct in stating that their own plan will save the country the most money.
The issue has been resolved the Lebanese way: with part of each plan being adopted in order for all involved to save face.
Electricity is a fundamentally domestic issue which affects everyone, from rich to poor, across cultural boundaries. The universality of the need for power is what is making dozens of mafia, protected by politicians, a killing via generator power.
This government has proven weak in the face of such mafias, not only in the electricity sector, but also in terms of food, water and telecommunications, where mafias operate very happily with the backing of politicians.
The Lebanese need clarifications of why any decision is taken and its ramifications for their energy supply, their future and their taxes; otherwise they are to be excused if they consider that this government is not only a protector of mafias but is in fact the capo dei capi.
If the government continues to tackle such vital issues in this manner they risk making Don Corleone look like Mother Teresa.
Copyright The Daily Star 2012.
