Seniora’s Surprise Move Puts The Opposition Off-Balance

The opposition’s bungled-up reaction to Mr. Seniora’s latest move is testimony to its effectiveness.

Source: Yahoo!

For the last few weeks, the majority was in a fix. For every concession they made, the opposition asked for more. It was becoming clear to March 14 that the opposition was sensing weakness, and that what it really wanted is a vacuum that lasts until the Arab League Summit in Damascus next March.

Hardball is the Lebanese way of negotiating. And the only way one can extract concessions is by storming out of the negotiation room and going it alone. That was more or less what the Seniora government has just done. After all, a quest for total domination disguised as a pursuit of consensus can only fool some people for some time. March 14 might have decided that it’s time to turn the table.

Mr. Seniora’s move was so sudden and unexpected that the opposition couldn’t coordinate a common position. Even the otherwise calm Al-Akhbar blurted out that Mr. Seniora is compromising Mr. Suleiman’s presidency (a ridiculous charge considering the measures were precisely made for electing Mr. Suleiman)

To Mr. Aoun, the measures were Seniora’s blatant usurping of Christian rights (by using the President’s powers). To Mr. Berri, they were an unconstitutional move by an unconstitutional government, and to Hezbollah they were the result of an American shot in the arm to divide the Lebanese.

One can argue on whether or not Mr. Seniora’s measures were the right thing to do, but what we can all agree on is that the waters needed some stirring.

Related Beirut Spring Post:

• In November 22, I wrote on how Lebanon moved into “Vacuum Management”