The federal state is the best formula for Lebanon

20121129

The reform of the Lebanese reign system can be through secularism but in a federal state.
Many Lebanese orgnanisations and individuals have started to think of new ways to reform the political system in the country. The loudest voice has been the one of those who wants to get rid of the secularism division that gives every religious sect its key position.

It is true that the existing system has its faults and weaknesses but a change for a traditional majority democracy would be a historical misstake towards a people that always fought for self ruling and a proud living. The best ways to modernize the Lebanese system is to recognize the problem and finding a sollution that suits all concerned parties.

The problem in Lebanon is that many times people make the misstake of deviding the Lebanese as 18 entities just because they belong to 18 religious sects. The historical fact is not quite so simple yet not so complicated. It is true that the Lebanese people are not made of one united body but the main difference is between the two main ethnicities and not the many different religious sects. Those two have own civilizations and they are the Aramaic Christians and the Arabic Muslims (A minority of the Christians are Armenian and Coptic and some of the Muslims are Kurds and Gypsies). Those people share the modern Lebanese identity within the territory of ¨Grand Liban¨ in the Lebanese republic.

For those two to be able to live as neighbors in peace and safety none of them should be afraid of the others political, religious or demographic goals and aspirations. A federal state in Lebanon between the two main ethnic groups is the sollution for a modern Lebanon that can grow develop like countries such as Canada, Belgium and Switzerland that have tested this formula successfully. Regions with an Aramean majority of the inhabitants could rule itself in different issues and the same model goes for regions with Arab majority.

In a federal state a secular system of voting can then be introduced. Secularism can then be among the two main ethnicities in two main parts of the country. The Aramean part starts in Zgharta in the north until Jezzine in the south and the coast in the west to Zahle in the east. The Arabs will rule most of the south, the Bekaa and the north. Beirut will be ruled equally. Some gathering of Christian villages inside Arab ruled areas will have a kind of autonomy; the same thing goes for some Muslim villages in the Aramean regions.