Regarding people’s lives and the government’s treatment of them, Saad has done precisely the opposite of what he claims to advocate by adhering to his father’s policies. (Photo: Haitham Moussawi)
Saad Hariri has explained, from behind his computer screen, what he meant in his earlier televised speech, which left everyone confused, when he declared that he wanted to bring down the regime.
From now on, and on every day until election day - he had said - action must be taken to overthrow the regime. On Thursday, he came back to clarify what regime it is that he wants to topple.
Hariri did this briefly, via twitter, making four points in the process: “have faith”; “we will prevail bc we are right”; “people’s lives should not be a part of personal deals. This is what this govt is all about”; and that he had been calling for “the downfall of the regime of weapons of tutelage, corruption, assassination and domination.”
These four points warrant a re-examination of Hariri junior’s understanding of politics in Lebanon and his behavior and that of the movement he heads.
The same applied when he lost the premiership. His despair was evident on his face when he met the then premier-designate, Najib Mikati. No more needs to be said about the faith of someone who left Lebanon more than a year ago and has avoided coming back since, sometimes using security as an excuse, and at other times citing political reasons. Either way, he left his sect, clan and followers alone to face their fate and their daily setbacks at the hands of those whom they are supposedly prevailing over.
Regarding people’s lives and the government’s treatment of them, the young man has done precisely the opposite of what he claims to advocate by adhering to his father’s policies.
He knows that his father applied Western prescriptions which have since reduced the West itself to bankruptcy, changed the electoral mood in France and Greece, caused disturbances on the streets, and brought economic ruin.
The extra ingredient which Hariri senior added while imposing those prescriptions was to subject people’s lives to the deals made by top officials and businessmen. If he is unaware of that, it is even more disastrous.
As for demanding the downfall of “the regime of weapons of tutelage, corruption, assassination and domination,” there is nothing new in that. According to his logic, this is a reference to a specific party, Hezbollah, whose downfall he is indirectly calling for. When Hariri points to Hezbollah, he sets himself against the Shia sect. He seeks to overthrow the gains in power made by this sect, so that he can make more gains in the name of his Sunni sect.
But Hariri’s use of the term “downfall of the regime” betrays ignorance. For he personally, with his inheritance - in the capacity that enables him to address the public, and even in his ability to continue making money - is nothing but a beneficiary of the existing regime in Lebanon. The regime as it is - with its divisions, and with its inclusion of the other side which he opposes - is what keeps him going. It is precisely the Shia sect’s role in this regime that enables him to continue to exist politically.
Attempting to bring down the current regime would automatically mean scrapping the existing map of political representation, so there would be no need to find a foothold for Hariri and his interests, and those of his political clan and employees, in the new regime. That is if it does not produce calls that evoke bloody conflicts like those that took place in Iraq and are currently underway in Libya and Syria.
Hariri and his political team doubtlessly want to project an image of someone who is above narrow self-interest. Hence their stress on their patriotic outlook and their raising, as in the past, of slogans they deem to be reformist, such as disarmament, keeping the state out of political quarrels and giving it full authority to manage the country’s affairs.
The young man who has travelled in private planes since childhood has discovered revolution. If he was late in announcing his support for the Syrian revolution, it is not because he was slow to catch on, as some say. It is due to having waited to assess when best to invest that support for his direct interest.
The revolutionary Hariri wants revolution, but he does not know the cost in blood.
If Saad wants the regime to fall, he and his comrades should jump out of their private jets over the Alps, not beat his chest, and announce his assumption of responsibility for what he has nothing to do with.
Fidaa Itani is an Al-Akhbar columnist on Lebanese affairs and Islamist movements.
The views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect Al-Akhbar's editorial policy.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
From now on, and on every day until election day - he had said - action must be taken to overthrow the regime. On Thursday, he came back to clarify what regime it is that he wants to topple.
Hariri did this briefly, via twitter, making four points in the process: “have faith”; “we will prevail bc we are right”; “people’s lives should not be a part of personal deals. This is what this govt is all about”; and that he had been calling for “the downfall of the regime of weapons of tutelage, corruption, assassination and domination.”
These four points warrant a re-examination of Hariri junior’s understanding of politics in Lebanon and his behavior and that of the movement he heads.
 |
| Rage day after Hariri lost premiership |
He perhaps ought not to dwell too much on “having faith” and “prevailing because we’re right”, for he has never shown faith in his own political actions. He mobilized thousands of fighters in northern Lebanon in 2007 and 2008, but when things came to a head, he gave no sign of sticking to his faith or the rightness of his cause.
The same applied when he lost the premiership. His despair was evident on his face when he met the then premier-designate, Najib Mikati. No more needs to be said about the faith of someone who left Lebanon more than a year ago and has avoided coming back since, sometimes using security as an excuse, and at other times citing political reasons. Either way, he left his sect, clan and followers alone to face their fate and their daily setbacks at the hands of those whom they are supposedly prevailing over.
Regarding people’s lives and the government’s treatment of them, the young man has done precisely the opposite of what he claims to advocate by adhering to his father’s policies.
He knows that his father applied Western prescriptions which have since reduced the West itself to bankruptcy, changed the electoral mood in France and Greece, caused disturbances on the streets, and brought economic ruin.
The extra ingredient which Hariri senior added while imposing those prescriptions was to subject people’s lives to the deals made by top officials and businessmen. If he is unaware of that, it is even more disastrous.
As for demanding the downfall of “the regime of weapons of tutelage, corruption, assassination and domination,” there is nothing new in that. According to his logic, this is a reference to a specific party, Hezbollah, whose downfall he is indirectly calling for. When Hariri points to Hezbollah, he sets himself against the Shia sect. He seeks to overthrow the gains in power made by this sect, so that he can make more gains in the name of his Sunni sect.
 |
| The Hariri family's collection of jets |
But Hariri’s use of the term “downfall of the regime” betrays ignorance. For he personally, with his inheritance - in the capacity that enables him to address the public, and even in his ability to continue making money - is nothing but a beneficiary of the existing regime in Lebanon. The regime as it is - with its divisions, and with its inclusion of the other side which he opposes - is what keeps him going. It is precisely the Shia sect’s role in this regime that enables him to continue to exist politically. Attempting to bring down the current regime would automatically mean scrapping the existing map of political representation, so there would be no need to find a foothold for Hariri and his interests, and those of his political clan and employees, in the new regime. That is if it does not produce calls that evoke bloody conflicts like those that took place in Iraq and are currently underway in Libya and Syria.
Hariri and his political team doubtlessly want to project an image of someone who is above narrow self-interest. Hence their stress on their patriotic outlook and their raising, as in the past, of slogans they deem to be reformist, such as disarmament, keeping the state out of political quarrels and giving it full authority to manage the country’s affairs.
But what is said in public does not reflect what is done in practice. It is no secret that this sectarian group represents a large proportion of the Sunnis, and that it seeks to monopolize control of the country’s resources, and supplant the state in favor of a group of companies. Thus Saad Hariri, in the words of Ziad al-Rahbani, eats in secret but gets fat in public.
The young man who has travelled in private planes since childhood has discovered revolution. If he was late in announcing his support for the Syrian revolution, it is not because he was slow to catch on, as some say. It is due to having waited to assess when best to invest that support for his direct interest.
 |
| Saad Hariri broke his leg while skiing in the French Alps, |
And while he positively extends a hand to some, such as Hezbollah and other members of the March 8 coalition, as a “novice revolutionary” he refuses to do so without affirming that he wants to negate them.
If Saad wants the regime to fall, he and his comrades should jump out of their private jets over the Alps, not beat his chest, and announce his assumption of responsibility for what he has nothing to do with.
Fidaa Itani is an Al-Akhbar columnist on Lebanese affairs and Islamist movements.
The views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect Al-Akhbar's editorial policy.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
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