A little common sense and an abundance of senselessness in Lebanon.

Byline: The Daily Star

Summary: <p>Lebanon's efforts to form a government were boosted this week by a bit of common sense, but unfortunately the prevailing senselessness of the country's political process continues to negate any progress.AaThe common sense came from Future Movement leader Saad Hariri, whose nearly three-month attempt to form a cabinet ended in failure last week.

Editorial

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Lebanon's efforts to form a government were boosted this week by a bit of common sense, but unfortunately the prevailing senselessness of the country's political process continues to negate any progress.AaThe common sense came from Future Movement leader Saad Hariri, whose nearly three-month attempt to form a cabinet ended in failure last week. Hariri warned on Sunday that next time around, if he is reappointed as prime minister, he would take an eye-for-an-eye approach to the process, and would no longer lend his support to those parties that refuse to back his bid as premier.Aa

Hariri's decision makes sense, not only because it's fair, but also because the goal of the process should be to produce a functional government. What good is a cabinet that is hobbled by irreconcilable differences? If groups like Hizbullah and Amal nominate Hariri, it is only logical that they would be included in the cabinet line-up, but if they back someone else for the premiership, then there is good reason to exclude them.Aa

Despite Hariri's demonstration of good common sense, the Future Movement leader remains, along with the vast majority of his colleagues in the political class, a source of senselessness AaHariri has indicated that he is ready to take over the helm of the premiership, but he still has not produced a platform that would indicate how he plans to run the country. By failing to produce an agenda, he has helped strip the political process of meaning and allowed the battle for cabinet seats to be reduced to a high-school-style popularity contest.

At the opposite end of the political spectrum from Hariri, however, we encounter a source of supreme senselessness: Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun. Like Hariri, he too has no discernable plan for governing the country, nor are his criticisms of the parliamentary majority based on issues of substance. His only interest seems to be guaranteeing his family member's representation in the next cabinet. Because he calls himself as an opposition leader in a political arena long dominated by feudal families, we expected more from the FPM chief. The role of any viable counterweight to the governing alliance should be to hold it to task on the basis of substantive issues.Aa

Sadly, nobody in Lebanon's political class seems interested in issues of substance. The trivial debates dominating the airwaves demonstrate that neither the parliamentary majority nor the opposition are taking their jobs as public servants seriously. And thus senselessness prevails.

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