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Lebanon is in the midst of economic and political gridlock as its politicians fail to form a government, causing a wide national, regional and international frustration. The situation is a direct result of the alignment between two political wills. Internally, the faction headed by Lebanese President Michel Aoun and politician Gebran Bassil (Aoun’s son-in-law) will not let a government be formed of which they don’t have complete control. Regionally, Iran wishes to keep Lebanon hostage in order to use it for added leverage in its negotiations with the West.
The continuing deterioration of conditions in the country—internal unrest and protests along with the close of stores and businesses with a devalued lira—does not seem to have an end in sight despite the growing popular frustration. Last Sunday, the Maronite Patriarch, Bishara Al-Ra’i, provided a politically charged sermon in which he called on the Lebanese people “to retrieve the identity of Lebanon.” In his sermon, the patriarch said: “The people are a hostage to those who are fighting for power despite all of the national and international pleas … the [Lebanese] Army is the legitimate force responsible for the defense of Lebanon and it is not permissible to legitimate the existence of any other arms besides the Army’s.”
Already in a previous speech, the Maronite Patriarch had made a public call that was described by Sa’ad Elias in the pan-Arab daily, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, as an “exceptional and historic,” akin to when the patriarchy called on Syria to withdraw from Lebanon in 2000, to drive the “second state” out of Lebanon. He was clearly speaking of Hezbollah and Iran.
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