French President Emmanuel Macron and Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati after a working lunch at the Élysée Palace in Paris on September 24, 2021. (Credit: Thomas Coex/AFP)
Kellun Yaani Kellun (“All of them means all of them”). Does it still stand today? Yes, but this is the ever-changing equation in Lebanon, with all its local contradictions. Since dégagisme (a call on those in power to clear out) came into fashion, the Lebanese did not hesitate to rise up against “the rotten” politicians, always with the exception of their zaim (a leader, usually a sectarian boss) who is “different” from the rest.This equation appears to have a French version.In a Dec. 21 interview given to the Lebanese daily an-Nahar, the Wall Street Journal and Le Monde, French President Emmanuel Macron called for “changing Lebanon’s leadership,” and “dismissal of those who don’t know how to [lead the country].” He singled out caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who he said “is still trying to do his best.”Macron, who is seeking to...
Kellun Yaani Kellun (“All of them means all of them”). Does it still stand today? Yes, but this is the ever-changing equation in Lebanon, with all its local contradictions. Since dégagisme (a call on those in power to clear out) came into fashion, the Lebanese did not hesitate to rise up against “the rotten” politicians, always with the exception of their zaim (a leader, usually a sectarian boss) who is “different” from the rest.This equation appears to have a French version.In a Dec. 21 interview given to the Lebanese daily an-Nahar, the Wall Street Journal and Le Monde, French President Emmanuel Macron called for “changing Lebanon’s leadership,” and “dismissal of those who don’t know how to [lead the country].” He singled out caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who he said “is still trying to do his...
