Lebanese elections under U.S. patronage?

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. Department of State already declared, “it is time for the Lebanese people to elect a government able to oppose the Syrian influence”. The states of the Near and Middle East know what this actually means – rallies, then discord, bloodshed, and chaos. “The U.S. attempts to export democracy to Syria and Iran are dangerous dreams. The borders of the Near Eastern states established by England and France after the World War I are not stable. Even the most stable countries of the region – Turkey and Iran- are vulnerable to the threat of internal ethnic and religious conflicts,” Zbigniew Brzeziński said. He is well aware of the subject; the region is almost lost in gloom and chaos, and only Lebanon, Israel and Iran are still standing. Still, it’s hard to predict how long they will confront the “democratic expansion of the U.S.”. Now Lebanon’s turn has come. Sparking Lebanon is as easy as pie – the civil war of 1974 -1975 has taught the Lebanese to be somewhat cautious.The murder of prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005 upset Lebanon for quite a while, and Syria was blamed for this assassination. With no direct charges put against Syria, the U.S. Department of State declared back then “it was namely the Syrian military presence in Lebanon and its intervention with the Lebanese policy that caused instability in Lebanon.” At the same time, the U.S. voiced its intention to impose new sanctions on Syria because the latter failed to implement the UN Security Council Resolution 1559 calling for immediate withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

During Rafik Hariri’s funeral ceremony the U.S. deputy Secretary of State William Burns again demanded that “Syrian troops should be immediately and fully withdrawn from Lebanon”.

President of Syria Bashar Assad said they would set up their own commission to investigate the circumstances of Hariri’s murder. He also pledged to strengthen control over the entry of Arab citizens into Syria who later, as the U.S. claimed, move to Iraq and join the Iraqi militants. Under the pressure of the international community sparked by Hariri’s death, Syria had to withdraw all its troops from Lebanon.

Now, the representatives of EU states and U.S. discussed the intention to establish new government in Lebanon amid ongoing intercommunity clashes. This is not a fight between the communities, but rather between two wings of the Lebanese society, those pro and contra Bashar Assad.

For her part, the European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton warned Lebanon against the danger of pursuing such policy by the authorities.

The Lebanese government expressed readiness to comply with the demands of the opposition. Currently discussions on possible resignation of the cabinet of ministers are underway; hence, no “Arab spring” is to be expected.

The question on whether the special elections will solve the country’s domestic problems turned out to be negative. Special elections will not settle Lebanon’s internal political issues; they will just loosen the tensed situation to some extent. A new coalition government may be formed after the government resigns. Special parliamentary elections are a way out of the current situation.

Meanwhile, tensions have increased between the pro-Western anti-Syrian Al Mustaqbal movement and Hezbollah organization, the core of the current Lebanese government. Present prime minister Najib Mikati has become a coalition figure, but will the Lebanese opposition agree on a similar person after the forthcoming elections as well?