Six opposition parties and collectives gathered in the "Concrete 1994" reception hall, in Burj Hammoud on Saturday. (Credit: Twitter/@nationalbloc_lb)
With the deadline for filing candidacies expiring on Tuesday, March 15, six Lebanese opposition parties and collectives held a joint meeting Saturday in Burj Hammoud to unite their efforts in view of the May elections.
The meeting was attended by the National Bloc, Minteshreen, Liqaa Tishreen, Taqaddom, the October 17 Plenary Assembly and Khat Ahmar. LBCI journalist Yazbeck Wehbé who moderated the event set the tone: “Forward to confrontation and change.” On social networks, the event was marked by the tagline “Our unity is the beginning of change” — an apparent response to criticism of civil collectives and other political opposition parties for having difficulty in unifying their ranks to dislodge a political class accused of corruption and incompetence for decades.
Restoration of the state
Several short statements from the leaders of each movement followed one another in a packed room, punctuated by loud applause and sometimes interspersed with video clips recalling the popular uprising of Oct. 17, 2019 and the devastating Beirut port explosion of Aug. 4, 2020. “Union is an obligation, not a choice. One voice, one list,” a voiceover at the end of the screening proclaimed.
“Our only guarantee: work together, in all circles, to unite politically against the government and form a parliamentary coalition. Our unity is the beginning of change,” political director of the National Bloc Naji Abou Khalil said.
“The debate that took place between the components of the opposition at the national level, during the last two years, has allowed today to produce a clear political discourse under the theme of the restoration of the state,” he continued, explaining that the goal of this coalition is “to transform the local political dynamics, in all constituencies and through regional alliances, into a single national struggle against the alliance of the mafia and militias.”
“We want to form a parliamentary group capable of demanding accountability and control,” Abou Khalil emphasized.
For her part, the head of external relations of Liqaa Tishreen, Ghia Assaad, denounced “the representatives of power who perpetuate a system that suits them. [...] We want for the first time, a non-confessional movement to enter the Parliament,” she said.
Ziad Abdel Samad, general coordinator of Liqaa Tishreen, meanwhile described the predicament of the Lebanese as “living in a nation without a state.”
‘A pain that never ends’
Claiming to be a continuity of the Oct. 17 movements, the participants also denounced the current living conditions in Lebanon, which is going through the worst economic crisis in its modern history.
“I am here for a pain that never ends,” said Laury Haytayan, general coordinator of the Taqaddom party. “Our goals are clear, our reform agenda is ready, our plans are written. But the state is nowhere to be found,” she blasted to applause from the audience.
“If the Lebanese people do not save themselves, no one will save them. The street has led to nothing and weapons are obviously useless. There are elections. So let’s free the state from its kidnappers”, Haytayan said.
Several opposition movements have recently been getting into gear for the upcoming legislative elections, after several months of apparent lethargy. A few weeks ago, the National Bloc launched its campaign and presented its candidates in four constituencies: Baabda, Tripoli, Zghorta and Kesrouan. The secular and left-wing collective “Beirut Resists” promised to run candidates via a single list in the constituencies of Beirut I and II. Other regional coalitions, especially in the North and the Bekaa, have also emerged.
The May 15 legislative elections are seen by many as an opportunity for change. Today, more than 75 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, the Lebanese lira has lost in excess of 90 percent of its value against the US dollar, and the investigation into the deadly explosion of Aug. 4, 2020 is not progressing. But fears of a postponement of the polls by the ruling class persist, even though this week the establishment of voting megacenters in time for the elections, a demand seen in some quarters as a pretext for such a postponement, has been abandoned.
This article was originally published in French in L’Orient-Le Jour.
