Lebanon remains headless for the eight month in a row. We have had our fair share of counting days so we moved on to months. Some political optimists preach that next spring will witness the election of a new president. Spring begins on March 21st and ends on June 21st.
Lebanon is headless as we wait for Iranian Speaker Ali Larijani’s visit to Beirut today and wait for the outcome of French envoy Jean Francois Girault’s visits to Lebanese politicians.
Analysts tell us about the Saudi stance in regards to the presidency, as others surprise us with Obama-Putin talks in the same field.
Didn’t the Lebanese revolt in 2005 for the sake of freedom and to sack the occupiers in search for sovereignty and independence?
Weren’t we told that we were living the second independence? Haven’t we lost enough martyrs and no longer have an intelligence officer sticking his nose in our internal business?
So where do we stand today?
None of us have the full freedom to move around in our own country. This area is ruled by Salafists, this one is more like Qandahar and the southern suburb’s security quarters controlled by the Resistance Brigades from traffic to marital issues.
Sovereignty turned into a mop and some of the borders are unmonitored, allowing armed militants to come in and out of the country as they please as Syrian jets overfly our territories and bomb chosen targets before heading back to base.
Let us not forget Israeli air force with transgressions so common that they barely make headlines anymore.
We bid thousands of Syrian troops farewell only to welcome another one and a half million some armed, some hungry, which together, make up one big crisis.
Maybe the presidential crisis, preceded by the difficult labor that lead to the formation of the current Cabinet are all recurrent signs of our complete loss of independence.
What independence are we living when part of the country’s politicians answer to Saudi Arabia, others to Iran and those left monitor diplomatic action in hopes of being elected.
Lebanon remains headless but we are now eating standard fitting foods, the gas prices dropped significantly, we have fantastic holiday decoration and Leila Abdullatif telling us what the future holds for us.
Those wishing to drink wine can side with Foreign Affairs Minister Gebran Bassil in his war against IS.
Some are wondering where to spend New Year’s Eve when they should be wondering when a president will be elected, a far more important and pressing issue currently pushing the country backwards.
There should be no fear over Lebanon’s fate as long as Former PM Saad Hariri is watching over us from Riyadh and Paris, whilst FPM Chief Michel Aoun and LF Leader Samir Geagea are planning to hold talks after a quarter-century-long bloody feud.
There should be no fear when Speaker Nabih Berri is watching over our democracy and Jumblat is tweeting about the need to legalize weed with the republic’s most famous dog at his side.
Maybe the only thing missing from this nut house is for a party planner to throw a New Year’s Eve fiesta at the Baabda presidential palace where Melhem Barakat could sing his famous ballade entitled “Taa Nensa – Let us Forget” as politicians ravage the palace with their continuous transgressions.
Article Originally Written in Arabic by Dany Haddad
