JOUNIEH, Lebanon: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, in his closed-door sessions with advisers and politicians, asks, “Why do civil service appointments for Muslim politicians take place so smoothly, while when it comes to Christians the problems begin?”
According to sources close to Bkikri, the patriarch often answers the question by stressing the need for more inter-Christian unity, which is not directed at non-Christian Lebanese, but represents the need to restore balance in the sectarian make-up of state positions.
The government failed to make any progress on the appointments issue in Tuesday’s Cabinet session as it remains stalled because of disagreements over the naming of Christians to a host of positions in the state bureaucracy.
A special follow-up committee of Maronite politicians has agreed to request official meetings with President Michel Sleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati to discuss the appointments issue, in a bid to eliminate one of the biggest obstacles to progress, namely the dispute between Sleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun.
The disputes have left the country’s top judicial post vacant for one year, while a host of positions in the diplomatic corps also remain on hold.
A source close to Bkirki told The Daily Star that Rai’s approach to the appointments issue was based on “balance, an equal distribution of posts between Christians and Muslims, and the need to fight the marginalization of Christians in the state bureaucracy.”
The first objective, the source said, was based on the desire to see Lebanon retain a pluralistic character, while the rhetoric of coexistence that is repeated by most politicians means that no side should be excluded from the appointments process.
The second point, an equal split between Christians and Muslims, is stipulated by both the Constitution and the 1989 Taif Accord, while the third item, marginalization, is due to the fact that the Christian community “lost” a number of Grade One posts in the civil service in the post-Civil War era.
In the Foreign Ministry alone, the posts include that of secretary-general, as well as the heads of the political, consular affairs, administrative affairs and financial affairs departments. Another key post is the head of General Security, while there are various Grade Two and Grade Three positions throughout the bureaucracy that have gone to non-Christians in recent years.
When top leaders recently paid their holiday visits to the patriarch, Rai was adamant that the marginalization problem needed to be confronted in the coming round of appointments, the sources said.
The sources said Bkirki dismissed the argument that the Christians had received their full rights by seeing the presidency of the Republic and the army commander’s post held by Christians.
But while Rai made his stance known, he has been unable to solve the dispute between Sleiman and Aoun, even after he tasked officials from three leading Maronite organizations with this mission.
Bkirki’s mediators remain optimistic, but Sleiman and Aoun are sticking to their positions. The president is determined to remain open to all sides, including Aoun, who commands weight in the government and Parliament. Sleiman insists on applying specific criteria to the selection process, to keep it out of the “political bazaar.”
Aoun, meanwhile, is insistent that Sleiman should play a role of an arbiter who is above the system, and thus leave the overwhelming majority of Christian posts to the politician with the largest Christian representation.