Salloukh”s job is to speak – and act – for all Lebanese
Fawzi Salloukh was recently reinstalled as foreign minister in Lebanon”s new Cabinet of national unity, but he has begun his second stint in office with a glaring faux pas. Even as President Michel Sleiman and his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, met in Paris over the weekend as part of establishing long-overdue diplomatic relations between their two countries – 64 years after both gained independence – Salloukh”s body language was all wrong. As a member of the aforementioned unity government, this country”s chief diplomat, and representative of a party that has benefited from considerable support in Damascus, he should have known better than to be seen bowing before a Syrian president.
Lebanon and Syria are still in the early stages of re-defining a relationship in which the latter was the dominant partner for decades. The result was a lopsided arrangement which, while very useful in terms of helping Lebanon to recover territory occupied by Israel, ended up warping the political practices of both partners. Yes, the Syrians were only too willing to play the role of "tutor," but Lebanese officials of many stripes – including many of those who now profess to be "anti-Syrian" – were all too willing to abdicate their responsibilities by, inter alia, allowing their own internecine disputes to be adjudicated in Damascus.
It is not a foreign minister”s job to publicly express gratitude to his party”s benefactor in a manner that communicates subservience to a foreign power. Salloukh”s task is instead to represent this country”s interests by walking tall and standing straight – as he did so ably when he was heckled by an Israeli official during the 2006 war. Forgetting to do so in the presence of a man he regards as a friend is to overlook the fact that many Lebanese see Assad very differently, and so to deny them representation as their foreign minister.
Only by remembering the many hats he wears can Salloukh fill the requirements of his foremost position. Reconciliation has to be a priority in the wake of clashes that rocked Lebanon in early May, and this country”s foreign policy remains very much a bone of contention. Furthermore, the mere appearance of returning to Lebanon”s old ways might encourage Syria to do the same – and that would be in neither side”s interests. Only when both countries” governments behave as equals can each begin to regard the other as a worthy partner. Unless both sides do this, neither can feel comfortable relying on the other. Assad and his regime put their country”s interests above all else: Doesn”t Lebanon deserve the same?