BEIRUT, Lebanon - Christian firebrand Michel Aoun, who scored a surprise victory in the third round of Lebanon's four-stage general elections, has vowed to fight corrupt politicians, whom he blames for the country's hefty public debt.

But analysts point out that decades of corruption and racketeering, moulded during Syrian's 29-year domination of Lebanon, will be difficult to undo.

Aoun, a former exile forced out by Syria in 1990 at the end of the Lebanese civil war, said ahead of the polls that the "divide in Lebanese politics is no longer between pro-Syrians and anti-Syrians."

"It's between reformers and traditionalists," he told AFP, adding that his Free Patriotic Current (CPL) "is fighting for across-the-board-reform, first and foremost a campaign against corruption and the sectarian system."

Aoun, who allied himself to pro-Syrian figures to contest the polls, openly points the finger at his former allies, among them slain former premier Rafiq Hariri and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, whom he accuses of getting rich during the era of Syrian domination.

Hariri and Jumblatt's anti-Syrian coalition lost to Aoun in Lebanon's Christian constituencies in the third round of the country elections.

"Aoun is serious about combating corruption and has all the relevant information, he was in the military after all and is used to dealing with intelligence," said a former Lebanese official.

"But whether he will succeed or not is another matter... Will he live long enough?" he added.

"Many profited under the Syrian regime, including those who had a recent change of heart," he said in reference to the opposition coalition that emerged after Hariri's assassination in February.

Aoun's supporters and candidates on his ticket say he is one of the few politicians that stayed clear of corrupt practices and racketeering which blossomed under Syria's domination.

He had little opportunity, living for the past 15 years in exile in France, after an earlier 15 years of wearying civil war.

Lebanon ran a 35.5 billion dollar public debt in end-March 2005, according to World Bank estimates. Much of it was accumulated by allocating fictitious amounts of money to reconstruction projects after the war, said the same Lebanese official.

The state electricity utility, Electricite du Liban, sustained four billion dollars in losses over the past 10 years, representing over 11 percent of the public debt.

Part of the losses are due to the fact that some of the national company's production is "stolen and not recorded in regions where the authorities ... are close to the (Syrian) oligarchy," Lebanese economist Joe Faddoul told AFP in March, a month before Damascus's forces left the country.

He said that the direct and indirect takings by Syrians had each come to a billion dollars, or a total of two billion a year.

The money, according to Faddoul, used to pass through undocumented channels controlled by privileged members of the Syrian Baath party hierarchy that forged alliances with influential Lebanese and business figures.

"The World Bank has observed perceptions of corruption and Lebanon needs to reform its public administration," said a senior economist working for the international body in Lebanon.

"A system of control on spending must be put in place, low salaries for 200,000 civil servants in the public sector must revised as they incite people to non-transparent practices," Sebastien Dessus told AFP.

"A system of penalization must be devised (against corruption) and simultaneous control over the private and public spheres must cease."

Rafiq Hariri was prime minister between 1994 and 2004 -- with a two-year hiatus -- and the owner of multi-national companies, some of which undertook the reconstruction of post-war Lebanon.

His son Saad, who is running on the anti-Syrian ticket in the continuing elections, has taken over part the empire.

"I don't have a magic wand, but I think ... we have a clear vision and a clear plan to end the corruption," he told Newsweek in May.

Donors have conditioned further aid to Lebanon on thorough reforms and fighting corruption.

The last allocation of 2.6 billion dollars in November 2003 to help Lebanon repurchase outstanding and high interest bearing debt was made with a pledge by Rafiq Hariri to reform the country's economy, which he never honored.

Lebanon ranked 97 out of 145 countries on the Transparency International 2004 list of countries perceived as corrupt by business people and country analysts, falling 19 points over the previous year.

"We do need structural reforms but Lebanon's multi-confessional system is not helping," said Minister of State for Administrative Reform Tareq Mitri.

"This system encourages a patronage system which prevents control and penalization. Culprits are protected by their respective communities. Every time a Christian head rolls, a Muslim has to fall too," he said.

Copyright © 1999-2005 Lenanonwire^®.com. All rights reserved.