The Child has Grown Up

Question: When do people pray?
Answer: When they are faced with the unknown.


Today, President Lahhoud is conducting consultations with members of parliaments to name a new prime minister.

Speaker of the house Nabih Berri was taking part in his capacity as head of a parliamentary bloc. He nominated Mr. Abdel Rahim Mourad for the premiership, but before doing it, he uttered those very symbolic words: "Bissmillah al Rahman al Raheem"

For those of you who are not very familiar with Moslem traditions, this is a small prayer Moslems say before embarking on a venture that is uncertain, difficult or unknown. Especially when it is said in the theatrical way Mr. Berri used.

Why is that very symbolic?

Because for the first time since the Lebanese war started 30 years ago, the members of parliaments actually don't know who will become prime minister when they're consulting with the president.
In the past, there was the "password", which is basically the Syrians’ instruction to the parliamentarians on whom to choose. Today, there's only the parliamentarians' conscience and the trust of the people who voted for them.

In other words, the constitutional process, for the first time, is taking place the way it's meant to: with real, non-skewed, power struggles.

With the Syrians gone, the Lebanese have lost something very precious:
Someone to blame when things go wrong.
But it is time the Lebanese child started walking on his own.