When Calling to Abolish Sectarianism Turns to Be… A Crime!

Almanar

14/01/2010 "Where is the crime in calling for the formation of a mere committee that would be charged with studying the appropriate ways to abolish political sectarianism?"

The question, raised by the head of the Democratic Gathering MP Walid Jumblatt following the campaign launched against Speaker Nabih Berri over his call to form the mentioned law, seems to be more than "logical."

Indeed, in a country like Lebanon, all parties can claim day and night that they reject sectarianism in politics, that sectarianism is the major "disease" of the Lebanese system, that fighting sectarianism should be everyone's duty, that sectarianism and competence cannot come together.

Yet, when talks about just "preparing" to turn such "dreams" to a "reality," those same parties "revolt" and portray the mere idea as a "crime." Perhaps, abolishing political sectarianism threatens some parties, some of those parties claiming to be "secular" and "ideological."

On Wednesday, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri held a press conference to explain his proposal. He stressed that the abolishment of political sectarianism was not optional but rather mandatory in accordance with the Taif Accord.

According to Berri, article 95 of the Constitution requires Parliament members elected on the basis of parity between Christians and Muslims to form a national committee tasked with abolishing political sectarianism.

Yet, adopting the Constitution turns to be a "crime" especially for those who spend their days and nights seeking to convince the public that they are the Constitution's defenders.

And because it's a crime and because it has created "chaos" within Berri's political rivals especially within the March 14 bloc, Minister Boutros Harb asked Berri before Wednesday's cabinet session "to withdraw his proposal to forming a committee to abolish political sectarianism," according to Lebanese daily As-Safir.

For Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, the first step should ensure abolishing sectarianism from the inner soul, a formula that doesn't seem to be approved by Berri who stressed that abolishing sectarianism from the texts is the way to pave the way for abolishing it from the soul.

Yet, Sfeir reiterated on Thursday that sectarianism should be eliminated from the peoples' souls before being eliminated from Lebanese politics. He said that abolishing sectarianism only from the texts wouldn't change anything.

Meanwhile, Jumblatt seems to be alone Berri's "partner" in "marketing" the proposal. He told Lebanese daily As-Safir on Thursday that "there is nothing wrong with forming a committee to consider ways to abolish political sectarianism in line with the constitution."

For his part, Hariri stressed on Thursday that the consensus of the Lebanese is the basis of abolishing political sectarianism, adding that "some stances do not favor this issue which means it is not a subject of consensus."
"Today, there is a national unity government in Lebanon, and we are trying to bring the Lebanese together on other matters. In my opinion, consensus regarding the issue of political sectarianism is the basis, and I believe that Speaker Nabih Berri has the same approach," Hariri told reporters following a meeting that joined him with MP Sleiman Franjieh.

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