READER COMMENTS

The Lebanese people will not be able to get rid of the Lebanese government makeup, which is ruling the country on the basis that the president must be Christian, the Prime Minister must be a Sunni and the Speaker of the Parliament must be Shiite. This is due to the fact that the conditions of people will decline and there are many people waiting to seize opportunities to sow dissension among the Lebanese people.

The Lebanese people are good people with long, well-known history, and the system of government in Lebanon is known and customary, but the parties that have entered the country and begun to sow sectarian dissension have caused the citizens to think about changing the regime. It is necessary to find a way out or a solution, to stop the situation of sectarianism in the country. The sect to which the President or the Prime Minister or the Speaker of Parliament belong is not important; what’s important is that they care for the interest of the country and the people so that the people would be satisfied with their rule. The Lebanese people should not get rid of the formation which is ruling the country, a Christian President, a Sunni Prime Minister and a Shiite Speaker of Parliament; rather, they should eradicate sectarianism and not let its ideas influence them. They should do the right thing so that they can live in peace. They should eliminate sectarianism and racism, and only care for the interest of the country and the improvement of its situation.

I think that the Lebanese people do not want any problems and civil wars or dissensions and divisions; that’s why they cannot change the system of government controlling the country, which stipulates that the President has to be Christian, the Prime Minister has to be Sunni and the Head of Parliament has to be Shiite. With this system, Lebanon will avoid getting into the maze of sectarian divisions, because it is a country where there are a lot of sects and religions. Therefore, it is better to maintain this system for everybody’s sake and not to plunge the country into problems and disputes, or anything else that may cause harm to the Lebanese people. This government should operate according to the system of justice and equality, so as not to be subject to criticism by the Lebanese people. All its members should be united, and they should cooperate so as to reflect a positive image of the people of Lebanon. The government represents the people with all their sects and religions, so it is better to avoid problems and not leave power in the hand of a particular sect or religion, so as not to worsen the situation in the country and to make it stable and secure. The country will have a better future if this government provides all the requirements of the Lebanese people.

We must follow many factors and work on consolidating them in Lebanese society, so that Lebanon will enjoy security, stability, development and progress. The most important factors are rejecting sectarianism in the country and political quotas, which are considered the main factor responsible for the lack of security and stability in the country. In addition, it had a great impact on the Lebanese economy and weakened it, making Lebanon lead a backward and useless economic life. Therefore, the Lebanese people desperately need change toward a comprehensive national unity, and they need to end work with sectarian quotas. In fact, these are the factors that led to weakening Lebanon at all levels. The latter led to weakening the national consciousness among many Lebanese people, till the country has become an easy prey for foreign intervention and international influence, which took control of the country. In fact, they have exploited this factor in order to achieve their interests in Lebanon, namely the long-term Syrian oppression of Lebanese people. This influence is still present till the present day, although the Lebanese government and people were keen to establish good relationships and to cooperate with Syria. Yet, the latter must respect the sovereignty, independence and freedom of Lebanon and must not interfere in its personal affairs in order to prevent the recurrence of tyranny, which the Lebanese people have been suffering from the Syrian government in the past. However, we notice through the political events which are happening on the Lebanese scene, and the return of the Syrian regime and cooperation with the Lebanese Hezbollah in order to regain control of Lebanon once again. In fact, it is still working on igniting sectarianism, fanning sectarian and religious conflicts, and causing security instability, in addition to some assassinations that occurred in the country after the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. In fact, through such acts, the Syrian regime wants to prove to the whole world that stability in Lebanon can be fulfilled only through the Syrian regime and its assistance. Therefore, the Lebanese must get rid of sectarian division and unite their efforts in order to rebuild the country’s infrastructure, through mutual trust and unity between the sons of Lebanon, for the sake of facing the imminent dangers threatening the country.

How can Lebanese people benefit from all these events taking place on their land? In fact, Lebanon has witnessed a lot of devastating wars that have claimed the lives of many innocent victims. Thus, what is the result? And who is the beneficiary of all these events? In fact, Lebanon has been a very beautiful tourist country and its people are very kind, generous and wonderful. Why are the Arab countries always witnessing wars, divisions, racism and sectarianism? Who will benefit from this? Why don’t these Arab countries live in stability, calm, tranquility and freedom? Why is there all this hatred among the people of the same country? Why have we been busy killing one another and left the enemies alone, who have stolen our wealth? Thus, the Lebanese people must be careful, and they must put the country’s interest in the first place in order to regain stability. This can be achieved by replacing violence, bloodshed and wars with discussion, understanding and dialogue, because these disorders can have a dangerous effect on the country and its people.

It is important to have a government in Lebanon, but whether the person in office is Sunni, Shiite, Christian or of another sect is not important. The fact of the matter is that the person should be concerned with the affairs of his people. However, there are some sectarian manipulations that are ongoing and which could make the citizens think about changing the system of government, which should be based on an important form of government. We need to find a system or a solution in order to put an end to the internal sectarian problems in the country. We should understand that the religious affiliation of the president, the prime minister or the speaker of the parliament is not of any significance. What is important is that that person takes care of the country while in office. We have to stop this foolish way of thinking that wants to create an image of the Arab and Muslim countries as being fraught with sectarianism, wars and terrorism. Also, we have to ensure that the people are pleased with the person in office and his way of governing. It is impossible for the Lebanese people to get rid of this form of government, which is based on the president being a Christian, the prime minister a Sunni and the speaker of the parliament a Shiite. What is important is that we should not give way to sectarianism at all, and instead we should support the truth, wherever it comes from. In order for nations to live in peace and security, they should abandon sectarianism and racism, and they should become concerned with the country’s situation and improve its conditions. The Lebanese people are one of the best Arab people, and I pray to God that He will help the peoples and bless them.

Lebanon is a country that consists of various communities, ethnicities, religions and sects, and it is difficult to stabilize the situation in Lebanon, and to get rid of all these terms that the law makes references to, because everybody wants to participate in governing the country on the basis of being a citizen of the country. This is what everyone is demanding, and the cause of this is backward thinking, as no one wants to allow others the opportunity to govern the country without bothering them and without constantly keeping an eye on them. Instead, there are political altercations and major rifts going on due to this issue, and every one of these sects and their representatives wants to wield total control. We will never get rid of these positions and the manner in which the country is governed in this backward and uncivilized manner, which demonstrates the extent of disunity and backwardness within the Lebanese individual, which is a sad situation.

It is in the best interest of the Lebanese people for all religions and sects to have a share in governance, so that problems would not occur. If it were said that a certain sect or religion has been removed from governance, it would create a heated atmosphere in the Lebanese public. As such, it is most suitable for there to be distribution in order to calm and satisfy all parties. This division has to vary when governance is transferred from one government to the next, so that the situation will not remain the same. For example, the president of the state could be Christian while the prime minister is a Sunni and the head of the parliament is a Shiite, and so on for many years. In the following years, the sects which would be in control of governance could be shuffled. As such, the president could then be a Sunni while the prime minister could be Shiite and the head of the parliament could be Christian, and so on. This way, the situations would not be more complicated than they already are, and all the reasons that create problems would be destroyed, as the state of Lebanon does not need them. This also contributes to stabilizing the situation and to preventing civil wars from returning to the arena once more. The system cannot take any more of this. It is in the best interest of everyone to work with the system of formation and distribution of positions between sects and religions, to give more care to the Lebanese people and to prevent them from getting into a civil war. This civil war could be the result of not distributing the positions. As such, it is in the best interest of the Lebanese to think about getting rid of the dictatorship that rules over the country.

As a Lebanese citizen, I think that we should think seriously about the demonstrations taking place in the country, which call for the eradication of sectarianism in the government. The Lebanese citizens should not be put in danger because of the multiplicity of sects. For this reason, the government should not take sectarianism into consideration, in order not to divide the Lebanese people, who reject this segregation. They are just asking for reforms through demonstrations that call for putting an end to sectarianism. They want to eradicate it in order to protect the citizens from harm, murder and civil wars, especially since the government is working on sowing dissension and sectarianism.

Good