27 June 2008
Editorial
When representatives of Lebanon's feuding political parties left for talks in Doha, Qatar, last month in hopes of averting renewed civil war, demonstrators sent them off with signs reading, "If you don't agree, don't come back." So long as they were in the Gulf, many Lebanese were more than pleased: At least they were talking, went the reasoning, and distance made them less capable of destabilizing the country with their lack of common sense and good faith. Eventually they did agree, and they did come back, but now they are up to the same old shenanigans.
One month after striking a deal aimed at defusing tensions, the same irresponsible "leaders" are once again engaged in hollow sloganeering, and some have even managed to add new complications to the slew of old ones over which pro-government and opposition parties disagree. Of all the commitments they made in Doha, the only one they have honored in full has been the election of President Michel Sleiman. The unity government on which they "agreed" has yet to be formed, the new election law they agreed to discuss has become yet another bone of contention, and the inflammatory language they agreed to halt is back with a vengeance. Worst of all, the aforementioned misbehavior has encouraged some of the two camps' respective supporters to feel justified in violating the most important pledge made at Doha - that of eschewing violence for domestic political purposes.
The debacle is so discouraging that some observers have been begging for the Qataris to take up the stick again, but the latter have already done more than should have been asked of them. The Qataris have to know by now, too, that the individuals among whom they mediated are not to be trusted, that they have no sense of their own responsibilities, and that they are too bullheaded to learn from their own mistakes.
Simply put, Lebanon's political class has no vision, no plan, no integrity, and - on the moral level - no guts. They use their respective media mouthpieces to cast aspersions on one another, but none of them has deigned to tell the Lebanese who really matter - the public - where they want to take this country. Perhaps the Qataris can be convinced to invite Lebanon's politicians back for another round, and then lock them up. Failing that, one can only hope that the voters in next year's elections know how to punish the guilty - and that they do so without mercy.
Copyright The Daily Star 2008.
