Berri Must Go

If speaker Berri is to act as per the saying by Mahatma Gandhi :“Be the change you want to be in the world” then he would have no problem in supporting dictatorship, defending brutal violations of human rights and above all else calling for his country to renounce its freedom and independence in favour of subjugation and subservience.

The speech made by speaker Berri yesterday implied that and more. Individuals are free to interpret events any way that they choose but there is more than a reasonable expectation that those who occupy an office have a moral obligation to fulfill the mission of that certain job that they have urgently and enthusiastically pursued. To have such a person occupy the position of the speaker of the chamber of deputies of an independent nation, that is a founding member of the United Nations and whose representative to the UN played a major role in the formulation of the UN Declaration of human rights, is tragic and reprehensible.

It was in that speech that the person entrusted with the legislative process and with guarding the constitution which declares Lebanon as a free independent nation stated that : “The Cedar Revolution took us 60 years back, led to the spending of public funds, increased national debt and favored the atmosphere for more foreign interference,”. That is the epitome of irresponsibility coming from those that are expected to guard our freedoms. Instead he laments the loss of Syrian hegemony over Lebanon and decries its newly acquired sense of sovereignty and freedom.

No greater hypocrisy is possible. The one who claims to be a guardian of the people supports the goals of their oppressors and furthermore lends all his moral and political support to Hezbollah a party established, trained and financed by Iran. The man who relishes flexing the political muscle of his office by pretending to be a liberal democrat, a world class parliamentarian has finally revealed himself for what he really stands for. Autocracy, authoritarianism, subservience brutal dictatorship and an allegiance to foreign powers that have rued and abused the Lebanese for 30 years. Unfortunately Mr. Berri has indicted himself in his own words by showing clearly that he is a wolf; a savage wolf; in sheep’s clothing.

Lebanon does not need a fox to guard its hen house. No country can afford to do that. The duplicity must stop and the Lebanese, deputies and general public, must show their outrage. It is crucially important that the Chamber starts immediately to act under section 3 of article 44 to strip its president from the confidence that it has bestowed on him earlier.

“Section 44
(3) The Chamber may, once only, two years after the election or its President and his Deputy, and in the first session it holds, withdraw its confidence from the President of the Chamber or his Deputy by a Decision of two thirds of the Chamber, based on a petition signed by at least ten Deputies. The Chamber, at such point, must hold an immediate session to fill the vacant post.”

Mr. Berri has to be held accountable for his forgettable speech that was laced with hateful rhetoric that is not befitting the office of the “second presidency”. The position that he chose to occupy requires a special kind of a leadership to heal wounds, unify factions and guard our liberty. Instead he has chosen to be divisive, hateful, irresponsible and inept. Yes the emperor has no clothes and it is time that he be dispatched to an early retirement that he so well deserves. The country has to preserve the dignity of its second most important office.

Elimination of Sectarianism Revisited

Those who persist in criticizing Speaker Berri and President Suleiman for their plan to implement the Taef accords ought to be reminded of the saying: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”
The well orchestrated attacks on the Berri-Suleiman plan can best be described as disingenuous, close minded and even bigoted. Political confessionalism is a misguided idea that has been gnawing at the Lebanese body politic ever since the establishment of the state 66 years ago. This idea of using the personal attribute of religion as the single factor for preventing a citizen from seeking a public office and many other civil service jobs is discriminatory, inefficient, harmful and egregious. One can even blame this single idea for most of the domestic tragedies that have consumed Lebanon in 1958, the 15 year civil war in addition to all the other social ills and inequities.
Speaker Berri ought to be commended for agreeing to spearhead the call by President Suleiman to take steps in order to implement the Taef accords that have stopped the Lebanese hemorrhaging over 15 years ago by demanding the creation of a bi cameral parliament and the total abolishing of political sectarianism all across the political sphere. Mr. Berris’ call to establish a commission whose only charge is to study and recommend steps to phase out this most destructive of all practices in the Lebanese political system must be seen in its true historical context. It is simply a call to do what all the Lebanese parties have agreed to do 15 years ago but have always found an excuse to carry on business as usual.
Unfortunately it is these same procrastinators who have risen to challenge Speaker Berri for daring to remind them of their duties and their commitments. Obviously one should not expect those that have benefited from an arrangement to go ahead and cheer on its demise but it is important to remember that when such institutions, organizations and individuals act as obstructionists and obfuscators they are doing so for very selfish reasons. Sure they would try to rationalize their demagoguery as if they are driven by love of country when in effect their only intention all throughout the decades has been preserving their preferred status. The logic and irrationality used by Patriarch Sfeir in order to prevent this hugely important and crucial step from becoming realized boggles the mind. How can we explain to our children that 35-40% of the population is entitled to 50% of the parliamentary seats or that a bright young educated Shiite woman cannot become a prime minister for no fault of her own besides the fact that she was born on the wrong side of the track so to speak.
It should not be too difficult to understand that any form of discrimination, racial, ethnic or religious is just as bad as any other form of discrimination based on gender, sexual preferences or the colour of ones eyes. Patriarch Sfeir makes an excellent point when he says that it is important to eliminate sectarianism from the inner soul of individuals. That would be a tremendous accomplishment but to use the need to create a perfect state made of saints sounds as an excuse to derail badly needed reform efforts is unconscionable. Society has a duty to set laws and regulations that would enhance the common good and citizens have the right to disagree with such laws but must obey them while they are in effect. Anti discrimination laws do not mean by any stretch that we have eliminated bigotry but it means that it would be illegal to act upon it.
President Suleiman and Speaker Berri need all our support in order to proceed with this project upon whose completion the future of the state rests. (Prior to this initiative the author has been a vocal critic and an opponent of both Mr. Berri and Mr. Suleiman).