In an effort to take the
dialogue and current discussion about the Election Law to a higher level, Professor
Georges Saad together with a number of professors at the Lebanese University announced:
The
Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Lebanese University is
organizing a conference Monday, January 14, 2013 in the conference hall of the
Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Lebanese University, Rachaya
on the following topic:
"The
legal approach-philosophical idea of “Federalism"
The purpose of the conference
is to generate discussion around the idea of “Federalism” that is considered
“taboo” in Lebanon, and thus is rarely addressed. Federalism has been
misunderstood in the Arab World and Lebanon. In its original form Federalism is
Unitarian and can be compared to the fraternal bonds within a family. The Taif
Accords of 1990 stated that Lebanon should walk along the road of
decentralization. Today, 2013, and nothing has been done to implement the Taif
Accords. In this seminar select scholars will try to answer the question of
“How to familiarize the Arab public with the real meaning of decentralization
and/or federalism?” and more specifically “What are the implications of
decentralization or federalism on a country such as Lebanon?
Such initiatives are much
needed. The arguments we hear today from the Deputies and political parties are
as deep as a tea cup, populist, xenophobic, racist, in short absurd. They do not address the core of the problem
which is how to promote the idea of a democratic nation state where the rights
of small majorities (the Muslim denominations) and significant minorities (the
Christian sects) are guaranteed.
The Taif Accord proposed the
solution of decentralization and the formation of a senate where religious
denominations are represented while the Parliament represents the national
unity of the country. During the Syrian hegemony period on Lebanon, the Taif
Accord’s implementation was delayed, and since 2005 the 14th of
March movement did not give it enough attention; one of the many leadership shortcomings
of this movement.
Today, Christian parties,
instead of calling for the implementation of Taif are calling for a measure
that goes beyond decentralization or federalism; they are calling for total
separation, a vertical schism with baseline the 19 Lebanese denominations.
May I ask, what about citizens
that do not identify themselves according to their religion or sect? We should
maybe call for the formation of a 20th sect, the secularists!
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