|
|
|
| A new system for the Maronite League... It should not be: “A house with many houses!” |
|
A new system for the Maronite League... It should not be: “A house with many houses!”
By: Joseph Kosseifi, Head of the Press Editors Syndicate15/12/2025
(See translation in Arabic section)
Sydney-Middle East Times Int'l:The Maronite League, a prominent Lebanese institution, held its first general assembly under the presidency of Engineer Maroun Helou last Saturday. Mr Helou is a well-known figure in Lebanese political, construction, and social circles. He was a pillar of the National Liberal Party during the era of President Camille Chamoun, and he witnessed the workings of the political establishment and undertook sensitive negotiating missions during the Two Years' War. He also participated in his party's delegation to the Lausanne and Geneva conferences, which gave him a deep understanding of the intricacies of politics. Consequently, he is capable of shouldering the responsibilities incumbent upon him in a league that is akin to a Maronite parliament, and which he has chosen to operate outside partisan entrenchment and attempts to sway it in one direction or another.
The Maronite League has committees specialising in issues that touch upon most public sectors. There is a political committee tasked with following up on all matters within its mandate, serving as a framework for ongoing dialogue among Christian parties and forces. The committee includes representatives from the following parties: the Lebanese Kataeb Party, the National Liberal Party, the Lebanese Forces, the Marada Movement, the Free Patriotic Movement, the Independence Movement, and independent figures.
Some circles believe that the committee should have been composed of independent figures within the League, maintaining neutrality towards all these parties, movements, and currents. These figures would then be responsible for direct and periodic contact with the heads of these political forces or their representatives, and for meeting with them as needed to discuss broad issues requiring consultation and a unified stance on any matter concerning the fate of Lebanon and the future of its Christians. This is to prevent the committee from becoming an arena for power struggles among these forces, a possibility given the strained relations between them, which are likely to intensify as the parliamentary elections approach.
The concern is that this committee could become a battleground for these forces, a real possibility given the nature of their strained relationships, which are likely to escalate further as the parliamentary elections approach. The Maronite League is not a charitable organisation expected to perform tasks that should be undertaken by the state and the Church. Rather, it represents an elite framework encompassing the Maronite community's leaders in all spheres of life. It can play a key role within a comprehensive plan developed by the Church in conjunction with relevant Maronite institutions. This plan aims to establish a roadmap that ensures stability and permanence in the land through policies focused on housing, education, healthcare, and providing employment opportunities for young people. However, this charitable aspect is not within its purview. The Maronite General Council is specifically responsible for this matter, and the League should not overstep its bounds by assuming roles that fall exclusively under its purview.
While the Maronite League emerged from the Maronite General Council in 1952, it developed its own distinct identity, independent role, and legal and moral character 73 years later. This suggests that the umbilical cord between the two has long since been severed, indicating that the time has come to clarify this distinction to avoid confusion. It is worth noting that many Maronite associations have received official recognition of their establishment and have been incorporated into the institutions affiliated with the Maronite Church. However, the League differs in its structure and scope, particularly as its members come from all regions of Lebanon.
The truth is that those who have held the presidency and general secretariat positions have been prominent figures who led the League with wisdom and openness, prioritising dialogue over any other approach. This contradicts what one of them indicated during the general assembly last Saturday, namely that the previous phase was characterised by "personalisation and subservience," a statement that provoked the attendees' displeasure, as it is completely untrue and constitutes a direct attack on those who held the League's responsibilities in previous phases.The League and Current Challenge The Maronite League today faces numerous challenges, and it must answer the following questions:
A. Is it in favour of the Hoyek project, which is the Maronite Church's project (Greater Lebanon and its 10,452 km²)?
B. Can it be a voice that does not echo partisan agendas, and apply the sword where the sword is needed and gentleness where gentleness is required, when addressing critical issues that should be addressed primarily by reason—not emotion, enthusiasm, pandering to the prevailing sentiment, or adopting the principle of "what the audience wants"?
C. Is the Maronite League capable of consolidating its independence through the ability of its General Assembly to amend its bylaws and close any loopholes? Among the most important amendments required is the legal and organisational separation between the League and other Maronite councils, associations, and movements to prevent conflicts of interest and the emergence of a duality that could lead to a tripartite, quadripartite, or quintipartite structure, rendering them disunited institutions, ostensibly united under the League's banner, but in reality, antagonistic within a single entity.
With its new bylaws, the Maronite League truly fits the title of the historian Kamal Salibi's book, A House with Many Mansions. In the Arab world, the individual and the institution are often conflated, as the personality of the institution's leader is crucial and pivotal. Therefore, significant achievements are expected from Mr Helou on a public level, particularly regarding the League's handling of major national, Christian, and Maronite issues, and internally, towards greater institutionalisation and independence.
The Maronite League cannot escape the influence of Bkerke, but it has the capacity to develop an independent identity that grants it a degree of autonomy not shared with any other Maronite body, council, or association, even those that convene on occasion under the auspices of the Patriarchate. This presents an opportunity for all Maronite institutions to operate according to the roles stipulated in their bylaws, in harmony with their founding purpose. |
|
|
|
|
|
.jpg)
