Michel Aoun is to Lebanon what Hugo Chavez was to Venezuela before the latter became the president of that country. Aoun, like Chavez, has marketed himself as the only answer to a corrupt system of government. He is also a populist. His solutions to the corruption in Lebanon are sometimes childishly simple. If he ever attains power, watch out for the mess.
Well, I will say that I generally support a challenger like Chavez who gains popularity in a country which has been sucked dry by a political class that cares only for its own pockets and for power. Lebanon is no exception. Since the civil war ended in 1990, those in power have done nothing to ensure that ordinary people are the real aim of government policy and have all too often served their own interests.
Despite the change-over in 2005 when Syria left the country, today’s government is really the same group that has ruled the country since 1990. Some names have changed, but by and large the powers are the very same, and they include some of Aoun’s own allies.
I wish that real change does take place in Lebanon. The type of change that means institutions are built rather than eroded, taxes are used efficiently to serve the people, and corruption is fought rather than tolerated and, worse, even promoted.
Maybe Aoun is the answer. Maybe this is finally the chance for a change. I doubt it. There are too many that Aoun has spared that are very much part of the old way of things. This includes Berri, Franjieh, Karami, Murr, at least for a while, and Hoss. And then you have Hezbollah. They receive the blessings of Aoun even as they are the biggest threat to Lebanon’s future and integrity, and this by his own admission.
Many are pinning their hopes on Aoun, but I am not holding my breath.
