One down, one more important to go

The political paralysis in Lebanon has not only prevented the selection of a president for well over a year now, it also brought garbage collection to a standstill in Beirut, a business that apparently the government was able to solve. 

The Cabinet Wednesday approved a plan to end the trash crisis which sparked unprecedented protests, mostly against the inert political class.

The “business” of garbage collection had political overtones that the government was not able to tackle since July. After the Cabinet’s marathon emergency meeting, there is finally a breakthrough.

Not so easy with the government, however, as the Lebanese political system is deeply divide between two main blocs: one led by Hizbollah, backed by Iran, the other headed by former premier Saad Hariri. The former, generally referred to as the March 8 coalition, is headed by Hizbollah head, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. It is allied with Syria and, by extension, in the same boat with Russia.

The latter, called the March 14 coalition, is supported by Saudi Arabia and the West.

The political deadlock in Lebanon has lasted so long that one wonders whether there is any real desire to normalise the situation. 

Of course, there are too many vested interests, too many factions and an archaic, now imbalanced election formula, but that has been the case for a while and yet, it has not stopped the Lebanese from coming up with a government. 

The divide in Lebanon is obviously a part of the Middle East situation. The region is now torn apart by the conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and beyond.

The Lebanese seem to be waiting for a peaceful resolution to the Syrian conflict, but that is not likely to happen any time soon.

Meanwhile, they get on with their lives, used to coexisting despite the deep sectarian and political divisions, only stirred to decisive action, it seems, by the stench of uncollected trash.