For the First Time Since the Taif Agreement, We Have an Opportunity to Build the State

January 9th, the date set for the parliamentary session to elect a president for the Lebanese Republic, is one weekaway. If successful, it would end a vacancy that has gone on for 26 months, and this is not the time for gray choices. More than ever before, the president must be someone “whose present and future are not ashamed of their past.” The president must be someone who has not been implicated in corruption nor constrained by commitments; the president must believe in the constitution and be in a position to ensure unity. If that happens, the new year could promise the Lebanese an end to the hold of the “nitrate regime” over their lives and fate, after its reign was crowned by Hezbollah dragging Lebanon into a devastating conflict that crushed its leadership, elites, and military capabilities, for the party and the entire country have paid and will pay the terrifying price.
36 days into the "experimental phase of the ceasefire", Israeli aggression and Hezbollah's attempts to circumvent this agreement that had been imposed by the military balance of power, put its future in peril. However, Hezbollah negotiated the agreement, which became binding on Lebanon after being approved by the government Hezbollah dominates. With the fall of the Assad regime that oppressed the Syrians for 54 years... Lebanon has a real opportunity to begin taking a different path, provided that it addresses pressing national issues and induces a transitional phase, starting at this critical moment, by ending the era of sham presidencies. That would open the door to building a state that embraces everyone and to the election of a president who does not undermine the foundations of the country's democratic system.
Talk of a "consensus" figure, at this time, sends a negative signal to citizens and the world. It sends a message that Lebanon's sectarian forces refuse to recognize the scale of the domestic disaster and the steps needed to overcome it, and that they insist on hiding the truth and ensuring that the forces of the bribery regime are not held accountable, disregarding the massive shift that has been underway since the fall of the oppressive regime in Damascus, the fracture of the Persian Crescent, and the resounding collapse of the Iranian project. This approach leaves the country on edge to divide spoils and reconstitute the authorities through those who control the sects, leaving the country beholden to “vetoes” that deepen the sectarian divisions, with one or more shadow presidents yielding actual power and leaving Lebanon stuck in the swamp.
Today, the country has been defeated. The agreement it signed entails surrender. Hezbollah, which prioritized the interests of the Iranian regime and put the Lebanese and Lebanon at risk, is responsible. Partners share varying degrees of the blame too− parties that turned a blind eye to the crime of the decision to wage this war and its inevitable repercussions. Dangerously, Hezbollah insists that the remnants of the authorities cover for it. Statements are being released, one after the other, suggesting that it will stick to its tendency of denying reality. They threaten to bring back the “resistance,” as though nothing has changed. Deputy Hassan Fadlallah mocks calls to leave things to the state, legitimate forces, and international bodies: “You have 60 days... We know this enemy and we know that nothing will protect us but confronting it with the weapon of resistance and the trilogy equation”.
Hezbollah has thrown Lebanon’s need for stability and sustainable security against the wall. It clings to its role and its hold on national decisions, which accelerated the disaster. Hezbollah refuses to accept that the era of the "Islamic Resistance" and the "unity of arenas" is over, or that illegitimate arms cannot provide security and have renewed the threat of occupation, through the imposition of a new security belt that prevents the tens of thousands of displaced families. Its actions indicate disregard for the fact that Lebanon's fate will largely be determined by the test of its compliance with the "cessation of hostilities", which serves the national interest and allows us to enter the stage of rebuilding peace in Lebanon
In parallel, the government continues to take suspicious positions. The international community is asked to protect us and deter Israel, compelling it to withdraw from the areas it occupies. At the same time, the authorities have not implemented the country's commitments to remove all illegitimate arms, in accordance with UN Resolution 1701 and the mechanism for implementing the agreement that was reached through international mediation led by the United States. Worryingly, the government that unanimously signed the agreement has yet to task the army with implementing it by taking responsibility for security and confiscating illegitimate weapons, starting from the south and then all across Lebanon.
The long years we spent without a president have confirmed that the presidency is pivotal for the country's progress and its institutions. Today, more than ever, a liberated presidency occupied by a credible person whose record is not stained with corruption, and whose history is clear and bright, can ensure the formation of a competent government that is not beholden to the corruption regime. This government could wage a political and diplomatic confrontation to protect and liberate the country, armed with internal confidence and the respect of foreign actors, and it would be capable of putting the country on the path to recovery by launching the wheel of political and economic reform to build the state we seek.
After the disaster of a deliberate collapse that left universal impoverishment, and the catastrophe of a war that could have been avoided, the Lebanese will be vigilantly looking to hold their representatives accountable. One question remains crucial: Where will the president you elected take the country?