Lebanon is 100 years old in free fall

The gulf between the population and the political elites is growing.

Chronicle
This is a chronicle. Opinions in the text are the responsibility of the writer.

Tuesday September 1 marks the centennial of Lebanon. But a joyous celebration is not expected.

There is so much pessimism today that Lebanese on social media even before the August 4 explosion, proclaimed the death of the centenary.

Norway must contribute by focusing on the country’s crises.

The fight for Lebanon’s neutrality

Lebanon was founded by France in 1920 in the wake of World War I, as the national homeland for Christians in the Middle East. On the one hand, the country has enormous potential. It consists of 18 different religious groups and during the civil war in the 1980s it was portrayed by Pope John Paul as “more than one country. It is a “message of freedom and an example of pluralism.”

But the dream of Lebanon’s potential is sadly far from political realities. The country has suffered existential crises since its formation in 1920, and between 1975 and 1990 a great war broke out.

The current country is supposed to consist of approx. a third of Christians, a third of Sunni Muslims and a third of Shiites. The political-religious lines of the conflict in Lebanon now run between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, who are supported by Saudi Arabia and Iran respectively.

Lebanon’s Christian president is in league with the Shiite Hezbollah (“Party of God”) movement. This party is part of the National Assembly, but it also controls an armed resistance movement with an arsenal much larger than that of the Lebanese army.

The novelty of this year is that, in addition to the politico-religious dividing lines between the elites, there is now also a new dividing line between the people and the elites.

Endless series of crises

Since October 2019, the Lebanese have mobilized through religion and class and have taken to the streets against deteriorating living conditions and corruption. A representative of the protesters recently declared: “The apparatus of political power lost all legitimacy after October 17 and was buried under the ashes on August 4.” It was then that the tragic explosion in Beirut killed more than 190 people and left a quarter of a million people homeless.

The series of crises, political and economic, in Lebanon seems to have no end. If you want to revive the country, you need coordinated crisis assistance from a strong government.

The financial and economic crisis has affected all sectors of the population of the country that was previously known as “Switzerland of the Middle East”. Young people are queuing to leave Lebanon, to the point where at least one European country has kept its consulate in Beirut closed to prevent mass migration.

The only real reason for optimism lies in the solidarity among ordinary Lebanese who intervene where the state is failing. The focus of civil society since the August 4 explosion has been to assist the hundreds of thousands of civilians affected by the disaster.

Civil society against elites

The protesters’ political demands are for a crisis-neutral government to be named with legislative authority extended for a period of 18 months. It is claimed that such a technocratic government will be in a better position to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund, introduce the necessary reforms, and begin a real fight against corruption.

Meanwhile, politicians continue their usual processes, seemingly untouched by both the tragedy in Beirut and the demands of the protesters. It’s like the orchestra on the Titanic playing to dance as the ship sank. A very small number of politicians have appeared on the ground in Beirut after the disaster in solidarity with those affected. Recently, the country’s parliament met to appoint a new prime minister after the government was pressured to resign in the wake of the explosion.

But Mustapha Adib, Lebanon’s current ambassador to Germany, was chosen because he did not create discontent with any of the country’s competing power blocs. He was the head of the secretariat of former Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who was recently investigated for corruption.

The gulf between the population and the political elites is growing. The protesters mock politicians and their disconnection from reality. However, there is now surprisingly little political mobilization in the streets. Civil society organizations are working to achieve a common platform, but the country’s economy does not have time to wait.

The role of the international community

On Monday, August 31, French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Beirut to follow up on the reforms he called for the last time he visited the country on August 6.

Then Macron called for an audit of the central bank, reform of the state power company and the banking system, the fight against corruption and an independent judiciary. The reforms are also required by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as a condition for a crisis package that could add to the $ 11 billion in loans and grants promised during a conference organized in Paris in 2018.

Lebanon needs European countries, including Norway, to pressure the government to implement reforms. At the same time, it is the Lebanese themselves who must hold fate in their own hands. Otherwise, history shows that other countries will use Lebanon as a stage for their interests. What Norway can do to prevent the collapse of Lebanon is stay focused on the country and support local initiatives with broad popular support.

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