By Dr. Elie Haddad / (translation Hala Hayek Najjar)
The road of the new government is still paved with mines and bumps. No matter how many tried to render the process absurd and present it as a regular battle of local political clout, the reality is that there is a struggle between two teams:
The first is that of the President of the Republic who has stated since the beginning of his reign, that the real government is the one that the legislative elections bring forth. It must, therefore, be a government at the height of his aspirations, able to negotiate the objectives of his policy at the level of state regulation, and able to repair and or install the system rules.
The second is that of all those who do not want the success of the era, its choices, and goals, and even seek to punish it and restrain it for three reasons:
1. There is no doubt that the positioning of General Aoun, a leader then the president of the republic, alongside the resistance and also with regard to the status of the region, especially in Syria, is a major reason to launch the campaign against him and to abort his reign. They thought for a moment that the presidential compromise would dampen his enthusiasm and force him to rethink his calculations but their intentions were misplaced.
2. The restoration of the Christians’ natural role within the Taiif and the great frustration of many parties inside Lebanon and abroad, and the sizing of many leaders, given the fact that they had many Christian seats taken in a time of inattentiveness.
3. The new government will no doubt be the spearhead of the president’s battle with the corrupt regime and its internal champions, thus they want to control as much as possible the process of authorship in order to control the future government.
We can find in the second team some foreign players, primarily Saudi Arabia along with internal players, mainly the Jumblatti and Lebanese forces.The interests of this team have been mutual in some places with the interests of others such as Amal movement or Marada for example, and we suddenly see the hearts of some leaders full of affection in support of the demands of the Lebanese forces and the progressive social party.
In front of such reality,the president-designate and the government’s first trustee stands in a surrealistic scene. The team that did not hesitate to push him into the abyss, and to detain him in order to replace him last October and will not hesitate to sabotage the government yet again.
They have tried to rid themselves of Hariri if he had not achieved his political goals at the expense of the presidential team. The same team that saved him and whom he knows he could believe in given any circumstance. In other words, to cut the branch on which he is standing.
Saudi Arabia does not hesitate to use all means of persuasion and intimidation with Harirri, even by receiving other Sunni leaders capable of posing a direct threat to his leadership. Hariri’s position is not envied, and there is no doubt that he is attempting to play with the time factor in order to, by some force of magic, solve the issue at hand or find some possibilities for a settlement. However, Hariri knows that using time may not be to his benefit after all.
Almost all Lebanese are betting on Hariri’s patriotism and wisdom for at the end he will undoubtedly choose Lebanon’s supreme interest.
