Tribune. Since October 2019, courageously, with the despair of the one who has nothing left to lose, the country has engaged in a fight against the oligarchy in place for more than sixty years. Impoverished, subject to an unprecedented banking crisis, the population denounces endogenous corruption, the foster mother of " Lebanese miracle Another name for savage ultra-liberalism.
Over the past few weeks, protesters have called for a radical change of course. We would like to hope that the new Lebanese government responds to their deep aspirations. One thing is certain: if it does not prove itself quickly, this government will be wiped out, as was the government of Saad Hariri last October.
Only a government made up of fully independent and incorruptible experts can respond to the Lebanese crisis. It is only on this condition that the country can then rely on its own resources and on international aid – including the Cedre agreements (economic conference for the development of Lebanon through reforms and with companies, in 2018) to rebuild a secular state, efficient public services, civil rights guaranteeing true democracy.
Turn the page of the 1943 National Pact revised in Taëf in 1989
The trial and error period required for the transfer may be long. We do not transform a structural dysfunction into an innovative and consensual political program in a snap of the fingers. And despite the immense work that remains to be done, despite the anxiety that is spreading among Lebanese in Lebanon (four million) and those in the diaspora (ten million), it is too late to go back. Inaction, passivity, are even more risky than revolution.
It is a systemic overhaul that Lebanon needs. It is high time to turn the page on the 1943 National Pact revised in Taif in 1989. Longer than time to consider refounding the Lebanese Republic from a new Constitution. A text that would take into account reality and not obsolete demographic data. A text which gives birth to a secular state protecting a population which has the right to access a minimum of basic rights: the right drinking water, the right public transport, the right to electricity, the right women Lebanese to transmit nationality to their children, the right to vote by direct universal suffrage.
The chains that the country must get rid of are so heavy that it is tempting to believe that the current revolution is just a doomed rebellion. This defeat of the minds is unthinkable. Changing the system is imperative. We can't wait any longer. The next presidential and legislative elections are to be held in 2022. The country has two years to complete the reforms and ensure that citizens return to the polls with confidence. Vast mission.
