Bluff Or Blunder?

Mr. Hariri “disagrees” with Mr. Seniora’s economic plan. Excuse me?

I still can’t decide what Mr. Hariri meant when he said that he disagrees with Mr. Seniora over public sector employment reforms. He actually announced that he is against the proposed contract-based employment plan. When was the last time you heard a party’s head publicly disowning his own Prime Minister’s plan?

Could he be trying to bluff to pull the rag from under Mr. Nassrallah who had announced Hezbollah’s intention to protest loudly? Perhaps trying to say “you’re not the only one who can have it both ways (being in the government and protesting at the same time), we can play that game too.”

But Mr. Hariri’s announcement is ill-advised for three reasons:

First, It sends the wrong signal to supporters by showing that he’s not standing behind Mr. Seniora, just at the time where the embattled Prime Minister needs all the backing he could get.

Second, it sends the wrong signal to opponents by appearing weak and divided, and by showing that he yields to hard-line opposition tactics.

Third, it sends the wrong signal to potential donors, who will think that the Future Movement is not serious about economic reforms and that Mr. Seniora’s plans are “old-guard” business, not a party’s long term policy.

Mr. Hariri is probably cozying too much to Mr. Jumblatt, a socialist.
On economic matters, he should listen more to Mr. Seniora. But he can still learn something else from Mr. Jumblatt: Political boldness.