"The Ta'if Republic"
By; General Michel Aoun
(Translated by: Elias Bejjani)
30 January 1998

What has been known as the "first Lebanese Republic" (1943-1990) had its characteristics, standards, traditions and a set of written and unwritten laws. It provided for official participation by all the Lebanese religious denominations as well as a consensual ruling system.

The "first Republic" was not in itself the ultimate goal of the Lebanese, but a transitional platform that needed upgrading, improvising, and development to gradually evolve into a better modernized system. This system takes into consideration the ongoing changes and challenges of people and time, provides equal and fair rights and duties for all citizens and is capable of monitoring and controlling the regime's activities in all fields. The Lebanese were also hopeful that gradually, with time and hard work, the state would provide better laws, services and justice.

All Lebanese hopes and desires were thwarted when the "Taif Accord" (second republic) was imposed on them in 1990. This accord was a stillborn creature, and in fact a regressive step devoid of any positive potential for development. It did not respect the genuine national ambitions and aspirations of the Lebanese society, or the challenges of time.

The "Taif Accord" put the country in the context of a sectarian regime instead of a secular one and created a permanent sectarian state. Accordingly, consensual democracy and general freedoms were all abrogated and replaced by a discriminative dictatorship. This bizarre status quo prevailed only because of regional support and after all foundations of national unity and concepts of the national consensus were butchered.

The government institutions under the "Taif occupational regime" (second republic) fell apart and turned into mere camouflaging tools of injustice, bribery, theft, squandering, persecution and virtually any other illegal activity.

From day one, the "Taif Republic" was, and remains, monopolized by the Mafia troikan family (President, House speaker, Prime Minister) and their followers. They divided the country;s revenues, natural resources and power among themselves in quotas with the blessings of the great regional Godfather (Syria).

Seven years after the "Taif Accord" was imposed, we wonder: Where are the institutions that supervise the various activities of the regime? Where are the institutions that sustain justice? Where are the institutions that maintain peace and security for the Lebanese society? Where are the institutions that champion social justice?

The question is, how can a state develop and progress when its top officials in office have pardoned themselves from day one for all of their murderous crimes? And how can the Lebanese trust those officials who lately pardoned the notorious drug traffickers who had assisted them in laundering their illegal fortunes? And how can the state of law and justice be established while the innocent are punished and the thieves honored?

My dear great people of Lebanon, these are the "virtues" of the "second Republic" that has been imposed upon us. Let us send it to hell.
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