I remember four years ago when i first started posting here, i was enthusiastic and motivated to express my opinions and reach out for as many readers as possible. I also had set for myself a specific goal, to promote transparency and accountability in Lebanese politics, most specifically within the Lebanese Forces.

Four years later, i believe i’ve achieved my first goal and the blog is read by thousands and followed by hundreds. It is one of the most popular political blogs, if not the most popular in Lebanon. Many bloggers were inspired as well by it and started posting themselves and contributing here.

However, i must admit i failed to reach my goal, or maybe was too ambitious from the start. The Lebanese parties, and more specifically, the Christian Lebanese parties are all going downwards in all aspects and the Lebanese youth in its biggest majority is following them.

Do i hold myself responsible for that? I cannot but feel a bit of guilt in what i did not take enough initiatives, however let us not forget what we are dealing with here.

- Tens of millions of dollars being poured into Christian parties to keep them on the “right” track, whether allied to Hariri or to Hezbollah.
- Severe divisions within the Christian ranks causing more fanatism from each side, and lesser chances to moderates and intellectuals. More ground to the herd.
- Undemocratic parties based on “le culte du chef” principle.
- Inexistence of any sort of accountability or transparency within the parties.

Those are few points that demotivated a person to even think about change, specially someone who might have other priorities in life than doing politics, or maybe doesn’t have the means to change anything.

Added to that, looking at the overall situation in Lebanon:

- Hezbollah influencing every decision in the country from banning certain books in school to starting wars with Israel.
- Syria coming back slowly but surely.
- The Hariri Tribunal being neutralized and compromised day after day.
- Incompetence and corruption everywhere.
- Gradual Arabization of the country.
- Risk of a new war at any second.

Having said all that, i am not trying to depress anyone here or motivate them to leave Lebanon, but it does make you want to think if bothering to get involved in any sort of politics in Lebanon is worth it. I’ve always done it because it’s a hobby for me and i love politics as a whole, but what we have here is everything but politics. It’s a fragile political system that is holding on to barely anything and surviving on the misery of its people.

So to sum things up, i believe a small break from posting about politics could do me some good, and give me more time to meditate on more efficient ways to reach out to more people and influence their ways of thinking. I must even consider engaging actively in Lebanese politics if i get back. I’ve been giving this a thought for months now, and since i am quite busy for few months now and travelling, i will embrace the silence.

Until then, i am sure most of you will understand my decision and i hope the other authors on ouwet.com will keep this great blog alive and up to date.