ARMENIANS OF LEBANON DID NOT MANAGE TO CONCLUDE AGREEMENT WITH THEIR GOVERNMENT

The issue on giving another Ministerial portfolio to the Armenian community of the country has not been solved yet.

The official visit of the Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafik Harriri to Armenia ended. He was accompanied by leaders of the numerous Armenian community which has an influence on the government where it has one representative. In Lebanon the Armenians have all the necessary conditions not only to maintain their culture and the language but also to participate in the political life of the country. However, MP of Lebanon Kasarjyan, who was accompanying the Prime Minister, confirmed that very rarely, usually after the elections, appear some disagreements connected with representation of Armenians in the structures of state authorities.

April 4, 2004

PanARMENIAN.Net - As it is known, after the civil war of 1976, the conflict parties concluded an agreement about the principles of formation of the authorities on the basis of which the Constitution was adopted. This document defined the representation of ethnical and religious minorities in the government. (Besides the Arabs-Christians, Arabs-Muslims and Armenians, there are also Kurds, Assyrians and Jews living in the country). According to the agreement, the Presidential post belongs to a Christian; the Prime Minister is always Muslim. The present-day President, General Emil Lahoud, is representative of the Christian community of marronites. His mother and wife - Andre Amadyan - are Armenians.

In accordance with the agreement, the Armenian community has two Ministerial portfolios and 5 deputy mandates. However, after the recent elections the Prime Minister Rafik Harriri decided to reduce the number of Ministries for more efficient governing of the state apparatus. The idea was supported by the President; as a result the Armenians got only one portfolio - not very important - to Sepuh Hovnanyan - Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs. The reform, naturally, was not very pleasant for the Armenians of Lebanon who organized protests. In early February 2001 a demonstration with numerous participants took place in Beirut. As a result, on February 15 the President and the Prime Minister decided to increase the staff however up to now nothing was changed.

The Armenian community has always played a stabilizing role in the Lebanon society. So, the ethnical majority also has to be interested in active participation of Armenians in the political life of the country. At the same time we should note that in the times when the Constitution was being adopted, the number of the Armenian community was three times more than now. This is being used by the authorities as an argument in favor of limiting the representation of Armenians in the structures of the public authority.

During the negotiations in Yerevan this subject was not touched upon. The appointment of the Government staff is the internal affair of the friendly country and Yerevan has no wish to discuss the issue. However, we think that the atmosphere during the visit of Rafik Hariri could be warmer if the issue of giving the Armenian community another portfolio had been decided before his visit to Yerevan.