New March 14 Group to Launch In Lebanon Next Week
Next week will see the birth of a new current that intends to recapture the spirit of the Lebanese March 14 Movement under the guidance of former MP Samir Franjieh, writes Elie al-Hajj.
Sometime next week, most likely on March 17 or 18, a new political body will be announced in Lebanon. It will have different aspirations and its structure will differ from that of other bodies. It will group together independent intellectuals and activists around one politician who has never before taken on such a role in the past, but who has played many important behind-the-scenes roles since the mid-1970s. The name of this person is former MP Samir Franjieh.
Those working on this political project consider themselves independent Lebanese citizens who have become convinced of the goals of the March 14 movement, which they consider to be the Arab Spring’s vanguard. They strongly support the Arab Spring despite all the setbacks it has encountered. The March 14 movement, which acquired its name from the million-man demonstration in Martyrs’ Square on March 14, 2005, one month after Lebanon's late prime minister Rafiq Hariri’s assassination, was a reaction to a massive demonstration by Hezbollah and its allies six days earlier on March 8, 2005, held under the banner of “Thank You Syria.”
The March 8 demonstration was intended to confront the popular and political wave that was relying on Western and Arab support to demand the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1559. The Syrians withdrew a month and half later and the political parties that participated in the “Thank You Syria” demonstration would become known as the March 8 Forces.
The activists, who are seeking to organize themselves and galvanize their influence under Franjieh’s guidance, recount the story of what has happened since March 14, 2005. They say that the relatively large parties — the Future Movement, the Lebanese Forces Party and the Kataeb Party — have large resources and capabilities and have to a large extent monopolized the decision-making process, especially after Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt left the March 14 coalition.
