Comments on: The End of Political Confessionalism in Lebanon?

By: Palestinian Rights in Lebanon: Reform on the Way? « Qifa Nabki | A Lebanese Political Blog

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 02:05:46 +0000

[...] for example, the issue of deconfessionalizing the political system. Nabih Berri’s recent proposal to establish a national commission to explore the idea fell [...]

By: Lebanon To March for Secularism « Qifa Nabki | A Lebanese Political Blog

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:31:51 +0000

[...] readers who are interested in what all of this secularism business is, you can read up on the issue here, here, here, here, here, and [...]

By: Edgard

Edgard — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:15:08 +0000

Ghassan. Would be interesting for you to post the total expenditures of UNDP in Lebanon to see if the return on investment to the Lebanese govt is worth the return. And a un drivwilford not make 30000. National officers make that kind of salary not general service staff. That’s an exxageration. And exxagerating is not a good basis for a debate.

I am with supporting the idea of voting for parties which support it as Mo suggests. Right now we aren’t ready for it. Read professor pascal monin’s article in al balad for a great opinion.

By: ghassan karam

ghassan karam — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:21:40 +0000

Pocket book matters dominate elections in civil society since they form one of the most obvious barometers of the performance of those in power. Except in Lebanon.
The whole world is abuzz with the news about Greece and its sovereign debt followed by those of Spain, Portugal , Italy and Ireland, the so called PIIGS. But not many Lebanese seem to know or care that the sovereign debt rating of Lebanon is below that of Greece even after the latest upgrade awarded to Lebanon by Standard and Poors. Lebanon sells its Eurobonds with a larger premium than that of Greece and the Lebanese sovereign issues experience a lower subscription multiple. Where is the Lebanese press to educate the public about the precarious position of the Lebanese economy whose metrics fall short even of the standard that are being applied to Greece.
One so called indicator of strength of the Lebanese economy is the level of deposits in its commercial banking system. That is a double edged sord since most of these deposits can be withdrwan by their foreign natiuonals just as easily as when they were deposited. Our so called strength depends on the willingness of other Arab countries and individuals to make deposits in our banking system. What strength is that? Is that why most Lebanese official , The President, the PM and the Speaker never miss an opportunity to visit the Gulf and Saudi Arabia in an effort to assure that the deposits will stay in our already over bloated banking system?

Another item that does not speak well of the culture of government in Lebanon is the relationship beteen the Lebanese government and the UNDP. It looks like Lebanon funds 25% of total annual UNDP expenditures in Lebanon. That might not be totally illegal but it sure is very close to being so.
The Lebanese government that is bound by the restrictions of pay regarding civil service is freed from these restrictions by asking the UNDP to perform these tasks for it. And yes the UNDP does pay its drivers $30,000 per annum and many of its employees over a $100,000 per year.
For exact figures go to a short post of mine on YaLibnan.com or to my personal aggregator: http://rationalrepublic.blogspot.com/

I will be interested in your views on the above.

By: Ras Beirut

Ras Beirut — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:38:20 +0000

Amending the constitution to eliminate confessionalism is not the total answer, but a step in the right direction. As it shows that the state is supportive of the goal.

Obviously, the difficult part is changing the hearts and minds. This is where the heavy lifting is required, but I think it is doable long-term. Many efforts/projects in this regards can be made to get there. But first and foremost, it should start in the education system.

Civic classes should be included in the curriculum for all grades, where a common national indentity is nourished.

Summer programs can also help, where students from different areas/sects can spend time to learn about the others. Similar to the sister cities programs.

Of course NGOs can also play a contructive role in this process, as well as the creation of a ministry devoted for these efforts.

By: mo

mo — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:16:34 +0000

Surely top down isn’t going to help matters in this scenario. Removing confessionalism from the system isn’t going to work if all I can choice at the voting booth are confessional parties.

The only way I can see this happening without the expected stresses and tribulations is for there to be a growth of non-secterian political parties with wide non-exclusive membership.

If these parties can put forward attractive, Lebanese manifestos and people start voting for them then the sectarian confessional system will disappear naturally.

In fact if we get a few with attractive but opposing view points that would be better and probably cause the process to move quicker.

By: Ijlisa Nabki

Ijlisa Nabki — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:41:10 +0000

According to this analysis, deconfessionalism has no hope in cedar land:

http://www.alarabiya.net/views/2010/03/06/102278.html

Again, realism (or Realpolitiks as some would like to call it) seems to over rule over idealism.

Regards,
Mustapha

By: Qifa Nabki

Qifa Nabki — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:56:11 +0000

Ok. So we agree. Good.

More later.

By: ghassan karam

ghassan karam — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:47:23 +0000

QN,
You really don’t think that I will respond to an article without reading it do you?:-)
BTW, it is ironic that you bring this thing up since it is very clear based on your above response that you have either not read what I have said either in my brief response or any of the other posts on this matter:-)
I have never ever claimed that deconfessionalism is a panacea. Nothing is. Deconfessionalism is a moral obligation for those who claim to have democratic beliefs. Whether the people will stop behaving as idiots /bigots/reactionaries etc.. is not the aim of deconfessionalism. The state has a duty to set an example that ALL are equal. The final choice is up to the individual citizens as it has always been and as it will always be provided there we are presented with a level field. A level field cannot exist when the state prevents to allow a nonChristian to stand for election in a Christian district. The mere existence of such a law is an insult to democracy and to my ability to choose.
Yes, I have used before the example of MLK and I will use it again. The funny thing is that it supports my case and not the idea that before deconfessionalism is abolished from the laws it ought to be abolished from the mind. I am not in the business of abolishing anything from the mind and neither should the state. It couldn’t even if it wanted to. The right thing to do was to say that racial discrimination will not to tolerated by the law and in any outward practice. Those who refuse to abide by it will be prosecuted. This is a far cry from saying that we will pass the law only once people stop acting or even thinking in racial discriminatory terms. If they did then the law would have been a silly redundancy.
The Lebanese case of having the state act as an enforcer of discriminatory practices makes the Lebanese case even more abhorrent than what racial discrimination was in the Us fifty years ago. Under the current system the state actually prevents me from acting as the moral agent that I want to be. They will simply not allow me from voting for my candidateof choice. The state is the institution that is enfringing on my ability to choose by acting as an enforcer in a gang.
Let me repeat. IMHO an argument that removing deconfessionalism would not create model citizens overnight is stating the obvious and is even helping distract from the major issue of whether a confessional system of elections is compatible with democracy and individual rights.
If you wish to argue that deconfessionalism might create a high level of sectarian tensions by depriving some communities of a perceived fair level of representation then that can be addressed separately and without violating the individual right to choose by limiting the field of those that are allowed to run for elections. Hust as an example, the state can adopt single representative districts which will allow communities to act as bigots if that is what they choose to do.

By: Alberto

Alberto — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:40:23 +0000

QN,

Maybe it should start by a political reform and then you can take confessionalism out of the equation. It would take one or two generations at most to open up people’s mind.
Direct vote for president; no closed candidate list; a deputy chamber elected by direct vote based on distrital representation; empowerment of the municipal executive and of the civil society.

When I think of someone that represents it Baroud comes to my mind, I may be wrong but most of lebanese think of him as a good lebanese politician not as a maronite quota.