Lebanon’s stalemate has no signs of ending soon

What the Arabic press is saying about Lebanon, featuring Al Ittihad and Asharq Al Awsat.

Hizbollah supporters in southern Lebanon. (Hussein Malla / AP)

Lebanon is mired in a political stalemate that is, above all, a direct result of a presidential vacuum and internal political disarray.

This situation reflects the changed political beliefs about the region’s future, caused by factors including the Syrian crisis and the standoff between Gulf countries and Iran.

Writing in the Abu Dhabi-based Al Ittihad, the Arabic-language sister newspaper to The National, Dr Abdullah Al Awadhi said Lebanon, a land of civilisations and humanity, finds itself in grave danger.

“The trouble that befalls Lebanon is caused in part by the West, because it gradually decided to let go of the Middle East and to leave it to the hands of groups with malicious intentions,” he noted.

“Hizbollah is leading Lebanon into oblivion, because the country is neither governed by a rational leadership, nor does it have a president, and its parliament no longer reaches quorum after an environmental disaster induced by deeply corrupt politicians.

“Lebanon was a multicoloured nation when it was hit by the sectarianism of a colour-blind party. Democracy was its motto, but it was hit by sectarianism. This has become the cause of all its predicaments, leading it to the loss of all its relations with brotherly countries and others distant nations.”

The most recent crisis, which led Saudi Arabia to stop its promised financial support to Lebanon, prompted the Lebanese justice minister Ashraf Rifi to resign, after clearly stating that “tampering with the state has reached dangerous levels and Hizbollah disrupts the government internally and externally”.

Al Awadhi asked whether Lebanon is waiting for Hizbollah to institute an Iranian statelet before it steers the wheel in the right direction.

“The rise of Iran’s influence in Lebanon over the past few years has led the country into direct friction with Gulf countries, which never either stood against it nor against it achieving the common will of all its communities,” he added.

“The fear is now that Lebanon will export sectarianism through those who brought the Arab and Muslim world nothing but destruction.”

In the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al Awsat, columnist Amal Abdul Aziz Al Hazzani wrote that it was not feasible to look at the position of Hizbollah against Lebanon independently of what was happening in the region as a whole, and particularly the effects of the Syrian conflict.

“The popularity of Hizbollah has diminished among the Shiites themselves, as every Shiite household has lost a son, a father, a brother or a husband in a conflict they have nothing to do with,” she wrote.

“The Lebanese are fed up of living in anguish, in a country crumbling under the burden of refugees and the lack of security on its border with Syria.

“The presidential vacuum in Lebanon is no longer an excuse after the two main Christian parties have united their voices. If Hizbollah was ever serious in nominating Michel Aoun president, let it vote.”

She added that it would be enough to look outside this series of conflicts and beyond the three suggested candidates – namely Sleiman Franjieh, Michel Aoun and Henri Helou – to a name that has proven its presence in the world of diplomacy, a leader that would unite all the Lebanese with the support of the international community.

“Perhaps France would take up its role as mediator to turn to a new blank page and the visit of French president François Hollande to the region may bring a glimmer of hope,” she concluded.

“Should the intentions be good despite Hizbollah efforts to maintain the presidential vacuum, there is hope that the end of the crisis is near.”

Translated by Carla Mirza