In a recent TV interview, Mr. Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hizballah, denied that either he or his party are sectarian. Mr. Piere Helou, head of the Maronite League, equally denies that his organization is sectarian. Amal, the party headed by Speaker of the House, also denies being sectarian. Prime minister Hariri, too, denies the charges that he is active in sectarian politics in an attempt to position himself as the main spokesman of Sunni Moslems in Lebanon.

Recently, LBC, the TV station founded by the Lebanese Forces, ran commercials (of an unidentified sponsor) calling sectarianism the enemy of Lebanon. So LBC cannot be sectarian either.

So who and where are the real sectarians? And why is Lebanon fully controlled by sectarian politics and practices?

Why is the next president of the Republic going to be a Maronite? Why does the prime minister hold on to his position as the presumed representative of Sunni Moslems? And why is the position of Speaker of the House a Shiite Moslem fiefdom?

Why are children registered upon their birth as Maronites, Sunnis, Druze, Greek Orthodox or the like, even before they begin to learn how to speak or to understand the simplest meaning of religion? Why are personal status registers kept on the basis of religious denominations? And why do these same registers double as voting registers?

Why are the Lebanese forced to accept the jurisdiction of religious courts? Why must they be subjected to religious jurisdiction in matters of marriage and family? Why is religion part of the civil public order?

The fact is that sectarianism is officially forced on the Lebanese people in flagrant violation of their human and civil rights and in violation of the Lebanese Constitution. The fact is that the very same politicians who deny being sectarian are the direct beneficiaries and guardians of official sectarianism. The fact is that the power base, factual, fictional or simply aspired, of Nasrallah, Hizballah, Amal, Berri, Hariri, the Maronite League, Helou and the like are nothing but sectarian. Abolishing sectarianism will amount to nothing less than the death notice for the political existence and/or career of the said parties, politicians and their brethren.

Sectarianism is the mortal enemy of good governance, not only in Lebanon but everywhere. It is the duty of the Lebanese and friends of Lebanon to secure by all legitimate means the goal of ending sectarianism now. Freedom and democracy, prerequisites to good governance, can only flourish and prosper in a secular environment.