During the commemoration ceremony of Sheikh Abu Muhammad Jawad Walieddine in Baakline, Mount Lebanon. (Photo: Haitham Moussawi)
The Druze Spiritual Council’s term ends on 24 September 2012. The two traditional Druze leaders, Walid Jumblatt and Talal Arslan have not come to an agreement on the question of Sheikh al-Aql (the spiritual leader), and former minister Wiam Wahhab decides to join the battle. Druze spiritual leader, Sheik al-Aql Naim Hassan, has less than three months to set the election date of the Druze Spiritual Council, which was elected for the first time on 24 September 2006. Its term ends six years after the election of its members according to article 15 of the law regulating the affairs of the Druze sect.
The law stipulates that the Council elections take place during the 60-day period before the end of the current council’s term. The election date is determined by Sheikh al-Aql and should be announced at least 30 days before the elections.
If Sheikh al-Aql should for some reason fail to set a date, the Spiritual Council will definitely meet on the first working day after the 30-day deadline. In this case, the oldest member will preside over the council and it will set an election date.But setting the date is not only a function of legal deadlines stipulated by the law. It is also a function of a number of political circumstances for different parties, most notably, Walid Jumblatt.
If Jumblatt decides against holding elections, no one will argue with him. The matter will be allowed to proceed, to be patched up later with a legal justification.
MP Talal Arslan does not hide his belief that Jumblatt will postpone the election of the Spiritual Council, under the pretext of lack of consensus on the question of unifying the office of Sheikh al-Aql or consecrating its duality through a legal justification.
 |
| Nasr Eddin al-Gharib |
This issue represents an embarrassment for MP Arslan that he cannot ignore. Arslan had declared Nasr Eddin al-Gharib as Sheikh al-Aql in a kind of religious and popular nomination ceremony. The same day, the Spiritual Council was being elected in Beirut and other areas.
Ever since Sheikh Hassan was recommended for the position of Sheikh al-Aql on 5 November 2006 at a meeting held by the Spiritual Council, the Druzes have had two spiritual leaders.
One is affiliated with Jumblatt and consecrated by law. The second affiliated with Arslan who is pushing to have him legally recognized as a precondition to recognize the Spiritual Council and compete in the coming election.
The crisis and severe disagreement over the issue of the two spiritual leaders manifested itself clearly at the funeral of the highest spiritual authority of the Druze community, Sheikh Abu Muhammad Jawad Walieddine.
Sheikh Gharib did not attend because the Jumblatt-affiliated sheikhs refused to have him give a eulogy and insisted that the eulogy be given by Sheikh Hassan only.
But away from the Arslan-Jumblatt feud inside the Druze community and over it, the head of the Arab Tawhid Party, former minister Wiam Wahhab, decided to take part in the Spiritual Council’s upcoming elections, through nomination and electoral campaigning.
Wahhab believes the occasion to be an opportunity to open up discussions within Druze voters in preparation for the parliamentary elections in 2013.
In a related story, the Druze residents of Beirut are waiting for these elections to shed light on the pending legal dispute between the Druze Charitable Solidarity Association and the current Spiritual Council over the management of the ownership of property No. 2046.
The property includes a religious council, a cemetery, a public hall and the headquarters of the office of Sheikh al-Aql.
Even though the legal dispute over the management of the property predates the current Spiritual Council, the latter used its political weight to speed up the issuing of legal decisions.
These decisions pertain to the dissolution of a lease between the Spiritual Council and Bankmed for 10 shops located beneath the headquarters of the office of Sheikh al-Aql, due to the absence of renter status.
Druze residents of Beirut are engaged in a public opinion battle around encroachments and transgressions they accuse the Spiritual Council of committing.
The conflict has led to criminal lawsuits after attacks on members of the Druze Charitable Solidarity Association, which took place with the backing of security personnel in official uniform.
Due to political interference, the Directorate General of Internal Security Forces and the Military Courts have not taken any actions against the assailants who were identified by name.
Dispute over the management of property No. 2046 has led to a battle over moving the cemetery currently located on the property. This includes the tombs of the May 6 martyrs (journalists and editors executed by the Ottomans in 1916), whose memory is celebrated by Lebanon and its journalists on Martyrs Day.
The Druze Spiritual Council decided in 2008 to hire lawyers to ask the Lebanese government to cancel the land ownership of the martyrs’ cemetery on the property and transfer their remains to another site.
While the cabinet has not made up its mind on the Spiritual Council’s request, it is likely that last Sunday will be the last celebration held by the League for the Commemoration of Martyrs in that location. The property is expected to be transformed into a tower block similar to what exists in the surrounding area.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
Uprooted Palestinian 
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment