question_answer

  Read the given story carefully and answer the question that follow. "In the city of Beirut there lived a man called Khalil. His parents came from different communities. His father was an Orthodox Christian and mother a Sunni Muslim. They lived together, intermingled, yet fought a bitter civil war among themselves. At the end of this civil war, Lebanon's leaders came together and agreed to some basic rules for power sharing among different communities. The Prime Minister must be from the Sunni Muslim community. The post of Deputy Prime Minister is fixed for Orthodox Christian sect and that of the Speaker for Shi'a Muslims. Khalil does not like this system. He cannot understand why Lebanon can't be like any other 'normal' democracy. His elders, who have seen the bloodshed of the civil war, tell him that the present system is the best guarantee for peace. Vetal posed his customary question to Vikram "If you had the power to rewrite the rules in Lebanon, what would you do? Would you adopt the 'regular' rules followed everywhere, as Khalil suggests? Or stick to the old rules? Or do something else?" Can you help poor vikram in answering Vetal?

Answer:

                  The answer of Vikram : Lebanon was known as the 'Switzerland of the East' and the country experienced a relative calm and renowned prosperity, driven by tourism, agriculture, commerce and banking. But in 1975, a full-scale civil war broke out in Lebanon which lasted till 1990. It divested the country's economy. The civil war was ended after sixteen years resulting in massive loss of human life, property and large-scale migration. At the end of the war, there were extensive efforts to revive the economy and rebuild the infrastructure of the country. Lebanon's political system was divided along sectarian lines, i.e. between the Christians and Muslims. So, the lebanon's leaders agreed to divide the total 128 seats of the parliament equally between Christians and Muslims. I think this is the best possible government Lebanon can have. It recognises the existence of regional differences, religious and cultural diversities of the country. The normal type of democracy is not suitable for Lebanon as the country has religious and ethnic diversity. When Lebanon got independence in 1943, it adopted 'Confessionals' i.e., power sharing mechanism based on religious communities. But the power sharing was not equal power sharing. After the civil war ended in 1990, the power sharing is equally divided between the religious communities of Lebanon. I think Lebanon's Parliament must follow this equal power sharing policy as it is working for last two decades.