We can date the beginning of this world, the world of the Saudi-Syrian Silent Takeover of Lebanon, to Rafik Hariri’s ascendancy to power in 1992. The Saudi naturalized Hariri proselytized a particular brand of capitalism that put inordinate power into the hands of “big money”, and gained market share at the expense not only of politics but also of what was left of democracy. And it has been a durable product. 

It is a fact that Lebanese politics in the post Taef regime has become increasingly homogenized, standardized, and nothing but a commodity. Over the last ten years, the Hariri administration has run the most provocative global advertising and public relations campaigns ever seen. It shocked us to attention, but shock is all it provided. It didn’t rally us into action. Nor did it try and address the core issues. 

Political answers have become as illusory as the rows and rows of homogenized ideas. Commercialized arabism and conformity par excellence. Our politicians seem to offer only one solution: a system based on the culture of consumerism, the power of finance and free-trade. They try and sell it in varying shades of blue, red, or yellow, but it is still a system in which “big money” is king, the state its subject, its citizens consumers. A silent nullification of the social contract. 

Such is our legacy. A world in which consumerism is equated with economic policy, where “big Saudi money” interests reign (from Rafik Hariri to Al Waleed Bin Talal), where the other Lebanese moneyed business elite such as the Murr, Fares, Pharaon,  Lahoud, Franjieh, and Jumblatt family clans spew their jargons on to the airwaves and stifle the nation with their imperial rule.

All of this with Syria behind the scene, carefully orchestrating the show and making sure nobody; however moneyed he is (Rafik Hariri), gets out of control of the Syrian-Saudi orbit; and anyone up to the Prime Minister himself, could be found a replacement such as the recently naturalized Lebanese Prince Al Walid Bin Talal.

Bottom Line: This is the world of the Saudi-Syrian Silent Takeover of Lebanon. Our people’s hands are more tied than ever and we are increasingly dependent on the whims of the Syrian-Saudi agenda in the region along with their respective pawns in the Lebanese government. The latter determine the rules of the game and every time they feel their agenda is threatened, they form coalitions such as the latest grouping of 42 Christian politicians (the biggest single bloc in the Lebanese Parliament) to fend off anybody who would challenge their imperial rule. The recent closure of MTV is only one example of many to what happens when the “Lebanese moneyed elites” cross the Syrian-Saudi drawn line.

Can Lebanese politics be reframed as to avert this nihilistic scenario? Is there a new agenda that could be embraced that could rebuild democracy for the people? Can social injustice, inequality, and power asymmetries be addressed so as to make politics a product once again worth buying?

I believe that they can, that a new agenda is possible, based on principles of inclusiveness, a reconnection of the social and the economic, and a determination to ensure that everyone in Lebanon has access to justice.

First, this new agenda necessitates a disenfranchisement of “big money”. Funding of political parties and election campaigns makes a mockery of our elections, and continues to ensure that politics remain skewed towards the interests of the few traditional families – exclusive rather than inclusive. Walid Jumblatt, the Chouf warlord, is probably one of the most skillful players at this game. Just ask his political bloc members how much dollars they have been contributing to every parliamentary election to keep their “zaim” in power.

In practical terms this means breaking the financial stranglehold our moneyed politicians have on politics and a commitment to introduce reform of political financing and funding of election campaigns. Any private funding of election campaigns will always come with strings attached. If trust is to be restored, politicians will have to prove to the electorate that they are working for the public and not a private good.

Second, the power of “big business” at a national level must be checked much more thoroughly. Reregulation rather than deregulation.  Stronger antitrust bodies, with increases in funding that will be needed to support them. Cross-ownership on media enforced. And the integrity of information and research ensured: obligatory disclosure of potential conflicts of interest and sponsorship of the public realm made subject to stringent controls.

Third, we will also need to put in place mechanisms to help people fight against injustice as part of a wide political rebuilding of institutions. Our workers and communities everywhere must be guaranteed basic rights to minimum health, safety, and welfare standards at work, and not be dismissed or dispossessed without adequate compensation.

A world in which people have no access to justice is one in which discontent will continue to fester. So it is imperative that we ensure that the perpetrators of injustices be held to account, and that their victims have redress.

A better Lebanon is possible. A Lebanon of greater equity, justice, and true democracy. But here is a warning: If we as Lebanese continue to perpetuate such power asymmetries, if we keep abiding to the Saudi-Syrian wishes and if inequalities continue to grow at the rate we have seen them grow over the past twenty years, what we will see is an institutionalization of protest and rage, and with it the demise of Lebanon itself. Until the country reclaims the people, the people will not reclaim the country.

© Copyright 1997-2004 United States Committee For A Free Lebanon. All rights reserved.

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