There could not be a greater difference of mandates for two successive governments in any country’s history. The current cabinet of Prime Minister Najib Mikati has been charged with terminating a protracted phase of managing Lebanon under a mixed set of priorities, wrapping up the past and handling one single, existentially important practical task: fair elections. For the next government, the responsibilities are overwhelming and broad. Nothing less than an entire new culture of governance is required, new accountability to the electorate and the national interest, new policies and new efficiencies must be developed. While many areas demand a new approach, beginning with re-ascertaining of the state-defining monopoly of enforcing laws and maintaining internal peace, the practical test of governance effectiveness will be the management of the economy. Here, the competition of interests that ruled the past is in dire need to evolve into a broader competition of authentic interests,
