A number of political experts agree that the situation in Lebanon is a threat to domestic politics and directly affects Arab countries, including Egypt.
Developments in Lebanon took a new turn after the government’s constitutionality was called into question following the resignation of opposition ministers.
Eleven ministers–ten of whom were members of the Hizbullah-backed March 8 coalition–resigned this week during Prime Minister’s Saad Al-Hariri’s visit to Washington to meet with US President Barack Obama.
Hassan Abu Taleb, vice president of Al-Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies, said the dissolution of the Lebanese government will cause a constitutional crisis and the suspension of politics in Lebanon. The situation, he said, is a continuation of the disagreements that played out over the last three months between the March 8 and March 14 camps over the international tribunal investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri.
Abu Taleb said in his statement to Al-Masry Al-Youm that the Lebanese crisis has negative implications for the region, especially given the current government’s inability to act. That March 8 ministers resigned at the same time the prime minister was in Washington constitutes a double insult, he said. The opposition members aim to prove that despite being a minority, March 8 ministers are influential and their threats and demands must be taken seriously. In effect, their resignation left a political and constitutional vacuum in Lebanon.
Abu Taleb said Egypt’s role in stabilizing the situation is to respect election results and the majority opinion. Egypt can also help prevent Lebanon’s subjection to foreign pressures and prevent the country from involving the entire region in a major war.
Regional countries can only play a limited role, but this does not mean, as some have argued, that Egypt’s role in Lebanon has diminished, he said. Egypt’s presence in Lebanon cannot be dismissed. It has no interests that work against Lebanese political and economic stability, but some groups such as Hizbullah, the National Free Current and the Social, National Syrian Party, have shied away from communication with Egypt for their own reasons.
Ambassador Abdullah al-Ashal, former assistant to Egypt’s foreign minister, believes Egypt has a more active role to play. Since 1979, Egypt has started to retreat and leave the Arab political scene open to enemies, he said. Observers of Egypt’s position toward Lebanon cannot but conclude that Egypt directly opposes Lebanese resistance, he believes.
If Hizbullah in fact spies on Egypt, this is an indication that Egypt’s retreat from Arab politics has enabled others to threaten the nation’s domestic politics.
The diplomat raises the question of why Egypt, amid the ongoing controversy, rushed to support the international tribune, seen by Lebanese figures as a deathly blow to Lebanon, and a continuation of security council resolution 1559 to end Syrian-Lebanese ties. Israel’s occupation of Beirut and the emergence of Hizbullah, as well as the Iran’s intervention in Lebanese politics, are all part of a process through which Iran will replace Egypt in terms of influence on the region, he said. If Egypt would like Syria dissolve its alliance with Iran, it must take back its position in Arab politics.
The deterioration of the situation in Lebanon is very dangerous, not only for Lebanon but for Egypt, Syria and others, added al-Ashal. The situation opens the door for Israel to renew its threats against and incite sectarianism in Lebanon. Despite the message delivered by the Lebanese opposition to Prime Minister al-Hariri and Obama, the resignation of opposition ministers reflects a grave internal conflict with ramifications for the region, given Israeli plans to upset the Middle East’s political map.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday in an interview with a British TV channel that she has intensified her communication with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, France and other countries in an effort to stabilize Lebanon. Clinton pointed out that she was not concerned that many Lebanese citizens had peacefully taken to the streets to express their views on the latest political events.
