Why does Michel Aoun avoid assuming responsibility?

“In Lebanon, there is corruption, but no one has been arrested on allegations of corruption. Also, in Lebanon, there are numerous thefts, but not a single thief was brought before the Court,” one of the former officials claims. Of course, the former official refers to the rulers, authorities, and pillars of the system in his statement, not regular people who are tried, held accountable, and punished when they make a mistake or commit a crime.

Between yesterday and today, President Michel Aoun’s address has a lot of similarities to the former official’s statements. Last night on TV, Aoun stated that the suffering of the Lebanese people is the result of the conduct of individuals who previously exercised responsibility when they were entrusted with the lives of residents. It’s a surrender word that delegated duty to others from a man who is meant to be Lebanon’s first official.

Did Aoun forget that for at least thirteen years, he was a significant partner in the authority and bore the responsibility? Where was he as a deputy and later as president of the republic, and where were the ministers he selected in consecutive cabinets during that time? Did they not take part in bribery? Were they not part of a system that devoured everything and brought Lebanon to its knees?

In order for the President of the Republic to finish his speech of denial of responsibility and throwing blame to others, he stated today in Bkerke in the presence of Patriarch Al-Rahi that there are more decisions regulating the course of events than the state. Why does the President of the Republic, who is in charge of the constitution, the country, and the people, refuse to identify those who obstruct reforms? Why is discourse usually hazy, as if an extraterrestrial creature is in charge, or as if the Lebanese are being pursued by an unavoidable fate?

Mr. President, you, like others, are accountable for the country’s current condition of affairs. Rather, because you are the republic’s first accountable, you are more responsible than everyone else. Will you speak and act on this premise, or will you continue to blame others in order to avoid the suffering people, as well as the rule of future generations and history?