The stumbling of the administration facing the current economic, financial, and monetary challenges today reflects in its core a failure to address the looming crises on these fronts. That the resigned prime minister reaches a point where he seeks out aid to maintain food security from multiple Arab and foreign governments indicates the extent of this administrations ineptitude as well as failure in accepting responsibility.
Those who have long gone out against the Lebanese soliciting foreign aid as conspirators against Lebanon did not object to the Prime Ministers calls. The pride they have long displayed stemming from the multitudes of divine victories they have achieved did not come into play as they witnessed Lebanon at the doors of foreign governments seeking assistance in the form of food security.
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This administration that has reproduced itself continuously since the Taif Agreement on the unchanged basis of quotas that excels in weakening the state and building sectarian and religious factions that legislate corruption and theft. Today it seeks to renew this status-quo through forming the upcoming government that turns its back on the people and distributes shares in the government while demonizing anyone that goes against this mentality and behavior that has brought Lebanon down into the trenchwhere it is today.
From within that trench, the October 17th popular movement rose. It marked the refusal of the people to longer accept the false promises of the authority. The people angrily declared that they are no longer able to accept the marginalization of their rights, and the contempt towards their rightful demands. The people revolution erupted armed with nothing but its nationalism. It rejected all that separated its constituents such as the sectarianism that has always been a tool of the administration to maintain corruption and control of state assets.
The eruptions of protests from across all regions into all squares and streets proved one main point, and it is that the living demands as well as fighting corruption and the provision of basic life necessities are what constituted the bulk of the continued popular movements.
This situation ensures that the mode of action of these protests will inevitably transform from the social and economical to the political which is a revolution against the rules of the game that the current administration relies upon. Today, corruption within the system is a direct consequence of the sectarian quota system. This is what makes the shift into political activism a necessity for the popular protests. The current political administration is a mere product of the current system that goes against the interest of the people in favor of the parasites that rely on weakening the state and its authority.
The time for politics is now, because only through it can the movement achieve its rightful demands and move forward. The crisis Lebanon suffers from is caused by the reliance on clientelism instead of universal rights, being followers instead of leaders, and quotas instead of the constitution. The sect substituted the people whereas the party became the authority instead of the government.
The challenge that faces the movement and those who participate in it is changing the rules of the game. An ethical movement alone is no longer enough. Good intention will not produce a result, and betting on the current administration to change its behavior is a bet on them to destroy the very tools they rely on.
The change people seek and find necessary is reinstating the rule of law and respect towards the constitution.In addition, redefining authority as the extension of the will of the people and a direct result of democracy; A true democracy that does not reproduce the same results again and again.
The people succeeded in imposing their presence through their achievements to date. They established that they are a part of Lebanon whose demands cannot be ignored and bypassed especially in solving the current crises the country suffers from. This imposes, in return, that the movement’s groups claim the responsibility of tackling the roots of the crisis and produce solutions that cannot be undermined. Transforming the popular movements across the country into a force for change is a responsibility upon all participating groups. This is done through creating a wide interactive movement from within the heart of the movement that represents the needs and demands of all people. The people are now directly involved in ending the cycle of rule reproduced by the current political elite who are unable to find solutions. The solution begins with a democratic program away from the old national accords that produce a deceptive government that is merely a microcosm of a parliament corrupt with quotas and factions whom create together one authority. Democracy cannot survive and achieve people’s aspirations without a strong opposition.
We must not forget as well that the parliamentary elections do not mean that the people’s role in governance and oversight is done. The people are the source of constitutional power, and what the movement has revealed is that the people have been too far distant from that role of theirs. The responsibility to bridge that gap lies today in the hands of the movement. The people must revitalize their role in society and politics when it comes to legal and national matters. The role of the people is being the first watchdog and protector of diversity and unity of the country; in addition to the production, renewal, and removal of power if they chose at any time.
