The reopening of the Lebanese television channel MTV following amendment of Article 68 of the law on the media, falls in the direct line of the process of applying UN Security Council Resolution 1559 and of the gathering of March 14, which together enabled Lebanon to regain its full sovereignty and affirm itself as an independent, free and democratic state.
On September 4, 2002 this channel was penalized for having dared to defy the bans imposed by the "tutelary power". The motives invoked for this unjust and unjustifiable sanction was that MTV had done harm to "the relations with a fraternal country [Syria]" and to the dignity of President Emile Lahoud, and had also violated Article 68 of the election law of June 2002, which banned media from publishing or broadcasting party propaganda during the parliamentary by-elections of June 2002. Its closure was a "purely political" and was criticized by Lebanese opposition circles and by the free world. Today its reopening is unanimously welcomed and confirms Lebanon's commitment to freedom of expression and thought.
Speaking to our sister-publication La Revue du Liban, MTV counselor Gabriel Murr spoke of the essential message given by the reopening of the channel.
"The essential and primordial message to stress", he said, "is the amendment of Article 68 of the media law, which benefits not only MTV but also all the other electronic media in Lebanon. In its previous form Article 68 was a sword of Damocles held over our heads by Lebanese officials, who could brandish it anytime they wanted to close radio and TV stations.
"In the general elections held this year, the media went far beyond the limits that served as a pretext for closing MTV in 2002. But the situation was already different and no one had any worries about being in violation of Article 68.
"A second message is no less essential: the triumph of liberty of expression. During the last few years the Lebanese government and external forces trampled on liberty. Now, with the reopening of MTV, they have lost their last card. We hope that such actions as those of the past will be truly a thing of the past.
"What we must do", he continued, "is to carry on the fight to preserve and consolidate our national independence and sovereignty, especially in the present volatile regional situation. Independence must be seen as a permanent quest.
"On the domestic level, we have over the last seven years heard the president speak of a state of law and institutions. But the institutions have been trampled on and the laws have been violated. The decision of the Constitutional Council concerning my candidacy for a parliamentary seat is a flagrant example. We need to rebuild this state of law and put the institutions back in gear. Whoever now speaks of the Civil Service and the other institutions created by President Fuad Shehab in the 1960s to manage the business of the state, of the res publica?"
© Monday Morning 2005
