Should Saad Hariri Be More Like Ziad Baroud ?

Rabeh Ghadban makes some very good points in an article where he argues that Mr. Hariri has to leave traditional feudal politics and behave more like Minister Ziad Baroud, i.e. focus on Lebanese civil society and on the gradual building up of civil institutions.

But Ghadban is striking me as slightly naive on the nature of power politics. To be blunt, gradualism and institution building, while great for the long term, are not exactly vote-getters. A successful politician is one who can both excite the popular base (the majority of which, despite Mr. Ghadban’s protestations, is sectarian) and reform.

Without political power, it’s very difficult to reform, and Mr. Baroud himself is testimony to that. His future is uncertain precisely because the big guys are playing power games..