Among the important anniversaries marked in Lebanon Monday were the passing of one year since President Michel Sleiman left office, in addition to 365 days of nonstop talk - and no action - on electing a successor.
Politicians of all types, as well as representatives of civil society and people in the street, have made their views known over the last year. Despite the storm of words and complaints, the one-year mark came amid few signs that the vacancy would be addressed soon - on the contrary, pessimism is on the rise.
The lack of agreement among foreign powers is often cited as the reason for the impasse, but it’s impossible to ignore the responsibility of Lebanon’s leading Christian political groups. At a time of regional turmoil with a heavily religious and sectarian component, Lebanon’s Christians should be doing their utmost to ensure the continuity of the only non-Muslim head of state in the Muslim world. Instead, their petty rivalries are blocking the election of a president, which has a real-world impact on the country’s legislature, its bureaucracy and its economic situation.
One candidate has opted to rely on his ties to an armed political party, and several foreign countries, in his quest to prove that no one but him deserves the post.
Most Christian parties and figures responsible for the mess have the loudest voices when it comes to complaining about the loss of Christian “political rights.”
They forget that the concept of duties accompanies the concept of rights, and that they have been shirking one of the most important of these duties for a solid year, and look set to continue to do so as long as they can.
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