More on Sectopolitics

Sectopolitics will remain the main avenue for the contestation of power, unless the political class applies a provision of Taif that calls for the formation of a high-ranking committee of the president, the prime minister, and the speaker of the parliament to lay down plans to eradicate the sectarian system of political representation. However, there are no signs that the sectarian political bosses will implement that provision any time soon. In effect, the new regime creates a sense of deja vu, because Article 95 of the previous constitution also stipulated that sectarian representation was only a temporary measure to guarantee a "just" distribution of power among sects. Until sectarian political representation is abolished, the Taif regime will continue to heighten sectopolitical polarization, just as the previous regime did. This is particularly true if the new regime produces a new structure of power whereby Muslims exercise political hegemony over the political process - that is, if one system of domination is supplanted by another.

In a sectarian society like Lebanon, it is impossible to satisfy all sects all the time. Such a system is in a constant state of turbulence due to the structure of power contestation. [...] Sect representatives, as the case of Lebanon indicates, have to respond to their constituency to alleviate some of their hardships by presenting the sect's demands to the government. Such a move could trigger a countermove by another sect. Thus instead of addressing the problem as a national concern that requires a concerted and programatic effort, sect representatives engage in a zero-sum struggle over finite resources.

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Therefore, as long as Lebanon's political system depends on sect's representation and its elite refuses to secularize the system, open the political process, and establish meritocracy, Taif or any similar sectarian arrangement will perpetuate the polity's sectopolitical polarization ... the Taif accord does not seem to nurture the development of interelite consensus. (Richani, p. 146)

posted by Lazarus, 1:40 AM