Gold Fish

Where does Aoun really belong, in the government or in the opposition?


General Aoun has always fascinated me. When he first came back from exile, I saw him as someone who is all bark but no bite. I was then impressed by the crowd that greeted him, until he started his political activities in Lebanon. This is when I thought that this man’s insane. I made fun of his Alexander comment, then I hastily concluded: “the election will be the needle to his bubble”. I even called on the Aounist base to abandon him because it seems that he lost his sanity. After his performance in the elections, it hit me that I had completely misunderestimated him. I now appreciate the importance of his role and the level of his influence. I even pleaded with him recently to use his weight to pressure Hariri into reigning on Hezbollah.

With the news that Aoun is no longer joining the government, what are we supposed to feel?

For a start, Aoun’s role would have been very important in the government. His self-declared Crusade (to all literalists, this blog is not for you) against corruption and his apparent resoluteness to fight cronyism would have had the chance to be tested.
It is also a great loss that he turned down the ministry of education. Our educational system would have benefited tremendously from his two best characteristics: boldness and secularism. Only someone like him can be brave enough to abolish religious education from our schools and write a proper history book for our children.

But who said that he has to be in the government to push with his program?

In fact, Aoun’s uncompromising stances and high ideals make him an ideal candidate for the opposition. “Born to be in opposition” as Aldiyar’s Charles Ayyoub once said on T.V.
Only the opposition can shield him from sinking into the deal making mentality, and give him the freedom to push with his ambitious reforms. The good news is that he has enough influence (21 M.P.s) to be taken seriously.
Besides, Aoun success came from the very fact that he has always been an opposition figure who did not get his hands tarnished by day-to-day details.

What is also important is that the attempt by Mr. Hariri to include him in the government helped soften the rhetoric between them. So the breakup was mutual and respectful, where Aoun stressed that he will be a responsible opposition leader: He will criticize when he sees wrongdoing, but he will also praise when appropriate.

Michel Aoun has restored the checks and balances that our discredited system always needed. This is why my final conclusion is that Aoun is, after all, a very good thing for our democracy.