How Would General Sleiman Govern?

The next Lebanese President explains how he intends to run Lebanon… Sort of.

Our role model ?

At a reception in the Ministry of Defense, General Michel Sleiman, the man every Lebanese, Arab and Earthling supposedly wants to become Lebanese president, implied that the best model for ruling Lebanon is the one he used to redress the Army.

Apparently, we can learn a lot from the way Mr. Sleiman transformed the Army into the respected, unified, professional body it is today. He explains that it takes three guiding criteria: Institutional work, transparency and accountability. Those criteria are supposed to slay three Lebanese ills: Corruption, Lack of development, and instability. 

But before you get fooled by the supposed randomness of these problems, perhaps you should take a closer look; Mr. Sleiman, in his remarkable “I’m everybody’s friend” art, decided to make us all happy. Hezbollah and Aoun fans will be happy that he’ll fight corruption, March 14 will be happy that he won’t stand in the way of development, and the Arabs will be happy that stability will reign.

The question is, how can institutional work, transparency and accountability deal with the International Tribunal, Hezbollah’s weapons, the election law, the Lebanese abroad, the Lebanese in Syrian prisons and the Lebanese who escaped to Israel?