ICC Note: Lebanon has maintained a fairly large Christian population by adhering to two Lebanese Agreements that reserve Governmental positions to Christians in order to keep their Christian civilians represented. However, this month, the position generally reserved for a Christian strategically was given to a Shiite Muslim.  This detour from Lebanon’s laws is a fear among Christians that still remain in the country and have enjoyed government representation.

2/2016 Beirut (Gulf News) – A fresh dispute surfaced in Lebanon a few days ago over the appointment of a senior government official at the Ministry of Finance, where a post reserved for a Christian — according to the 1943 National Pact and 1989 Tai’f Agreement — went to a Shiite.

Accusations and denials followed — as expected in a country where sectarianism is an institutionalised matter — which raised fundamental questions.

What preoccupied many were the long-term consequences of such appointments at a time of profound demographic changes that continue to record significant Christian losses.

In fact, and even if no references were made to the latter, the council of Maronite bishops addressed the issue of balance among all sects in state institutions a few days ago, after several officials complained about the alleged exclusion of Christians from key posts.

In an official statement issued under Patriarch Mar Beshara Butros Al Ra’i, the bishops insisted that the designation of civil servants must be respected and “be based on competence, integrity and the willingness to fight corruption,” which it estimated had become rampant in most institutions.

Although a long-standing concern, Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement raised the ante last Tuesday, as it decried what it called the exclusion of Christians from state posts, including the Finance Ministry, maintaining that such steps were contrary to the country’s National Pact.

The target of this latest missive, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, a member of the Amal Movement led by Shiite Speaker Nabih Berri, was accused of replacing a Maronite Christian with a Shiite civil servant at a top post at his ministry. Khalil clarified that no new appointments were made but rather a reshuffle of incumbent ones, rejecting charges that his behaviour was “sectarian”. “We have never resorted to the sectarian rhetoric and we believe in coexistence and balance,” hammered Khalil. He continued: “We have always called for the implementation of the Ta’if Accord and we’re keen on all sects. There is no one leader, sect or party in this country,” Khalil stressed, as he affirmed that Lebanon could only function when all sects were treated fairly.

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