Quote:
Originally Posted by Learned  It is counter productive to introduce an all-new body in government that only adds to the sectarian-based structure of the political system. We want to abolish the sectarian system, not preserve and prolong it. So no, totally against any kind of system that is based on sect.
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I agree. But there exist few ways to approach the dilemma of how to practically go about turning our sectarian system into a secular one. These can be instantaneous or slow.
- You either change the population: Export all the Lebanese to Australia, and import the Aborigines here instead
- Get a Lebanese Tito with a fist of iron to impose the new system
- Have patience and let the natural cycle of life and death bring forward a new generation -with ditto set of political leadership and leaders - (and hope to hit a lucky combination among these), and clean out the old one
- Start smoothly now with something new and make people learn how to appreciate it.. With proper preparations you might have a mechanism, say within 15-20 years, that might help you develop it into a working whole system. There are many ruling constellations one can play with, here's one example and i am sure your rich imagination can bring more:
Every six years, have, for a starter, a sectarian based Senate that gets formed alongside a morphed secular parliamentary system, elect a 6 headed ruling body representing a symbolic organ with few powers, called the presidency. Each year, one sect (of the major ones) will have its representative in that body as the President of that organ, with some extra symbolic bonus powers.
Let a secular parliament, voted by having whole Lebanon as one electoral district, be the institution upon which governments are built, and he/she whose party gets the most votes runs the government.
If you simultaneously finish off with the sectarian quotas in the public sector, including higher army posts, and put huge efforts in the education and media sector against sectarianism, i believe the above constitutional trick played on the population will pave a good way for the next stage. This stage would be the true secular political system where, at a certain point in time, no one would pay attention anymore nor care about who represents which sect in the Senate or in that presidential organ.
PS: As you notice, i am a true amateur in state building business and i am sure someone more knowledgeable here has already found a weak spot to puncture this outlined balloon through. Nonetheless, i think i made my point.
27th April 2009
