The Hidden Loser

Aoun’s electoral victory took a big casualty: Patriarch Sfeir’s political influence.

The relationship between the Patriarch and General Aoun has never been a smooth one; people still talk about that day during the war when the general sent his men to beat up the highest Christian religious figure in the land.

But the difference between the two men is not just about chemistry; it’s about their vision of Lebanon. Everytime Mr. Aoun speaks of the future of Lebanon, he mentions the word “secular”, a word not too sweet to the Patriarch’s ears. The patriarch is also the Godfather of the Quornet shahwan Gathering, an umbrella group of Christian politicians who competed (and lost) against the general in yesterday’s elections.

The Quornet has always considered the Patriarch as sacrosanct. None of them publicly disagrees with him and they use his podium for all major political announcements. Aoun on the other hand couldn’t care less about the Patriarch’s political recommendations.

Everytime someone says that the Christians don’t have a leader, Quornet Shahwan members will rush to disagree by saying that they have the Patriarch. If that’s the case, then the dramatic victory of General Aoun, the man who considers the patriarch as just another religious figure, by the hands of the Christians themselves, means that the Lebanese Christians have just had a regime change.