Forces Dedicate “Victory” to Nabih Berri

Lebanon Today

The matter is settled and there is no room for debate.
The “Lebanese Forces” has made its decision to boycott and has chosen to be absent from the legislative session on Tuesday.

In the media, this decision is portrayed as a “matter of principle,” but in reality, it is a clear declaration of the opposition’s withdrawal from the battlefield and the handing over of the reins of the state to those who know how to run things from behind the scenes.

The “Forces,” which has always raised the slogan of “restoring the state,” has decided today to leave it in the grip of those who have seized it for many years.
It adopts “principle” as a slogan, but it is mired in excessive selfishness that stifles any opposition effort and thwarts any attempt to unite ranks.
Absence has become like a sacred ritual for the “Forces” leadership, as if participation in political action is a sin, and as if struggle is measured by the number of statements issued, not by the number of practical positions taken.

For months, we have only seen the “Forces” in a position of rejecting everything.
It boycotts here, withdraws there, and then comes back to talk about “moral victory.”
But the truth is that the real victory belongs to the political realism that its opponents master.
The absence of the “Forces” from the session will not lead to a loss of quorum, but will rather topple the opposition itself.
The session will be held with the presence of more than 65 deputies, while the opposition will remain outside raising its voices only through social media platforms.

The result of this situation is that the “Shiite duo” will sit comfortably in the seats of power, passing the laws it wants, and running the state as if it were its own private property.
Speaker Nabih Berri will chair the session with the confidence of the victor, while “Hezbollah” holds the reins of politics, economy, and security, benefiting from the absence of its opponents who gifted it victory on a platter of principles.

The “duo” has succeeded in what others have failed to do, which is to exploit and fuel divisions.
While the “Forces” is drowning in the illusion of political purity, the “duo” controls the ministries, institutions, budgets, judiciary, and the street.
Under the slogan of “stability,” the state is run from two offices: “Ain el-Tineh” and “Dahieh,” from which the boundaries of power and loyalty are drawn, and policies are approved and decisions are frozen.

The “Shiite duo” is no longer just a partner in the state, but has become the state itself.
No decision is made without its approval, and no project moves without its consent.
It exercises de facto power under a constitutional cover and the slogan of resistance, while Lebanon is being eroded from within, and its institutions are reduced to personal interests and positions.
In contrast, the “Lebanese Forces” chose to flee instead of confront.
It could have attended the session and fought from inside the hall, recorded a position in the minutes, and exposed the manipulation of figures or suspicious deals.
But it preferred to boycott, thus losing its role and ability to influence.

Today, Lebanon is heading towards a more critical scene, with power tightly gripped entirely by the “Shiite duo,” and a fragmented opposition fighting among itself.
There is no voice for the people, no unified will, and no rescue plan.
Lebanon is staggering between the tyranny of the “duo” and the arrogance of the “Forces,” and the result is a continuous collapse that cannot be stopped.

What happened is not a victory for anyone, but a collective defeat for the nation.
Because whoever owns the state uses it to serve his own project, and whoever owns the voice prefers silence.
Thus, the collapse is reproduced with new faces and old slogans.