Political Parties in Lebanon
A multiparty system has been in place in Lebanon since the 1920s, and political parties operate freely. However, party constituencies tend to form around ethnic and sectarian ties, rather than policy.
In recent years, some parties have attempted to strengthen their secular credentials and attract constituents from outside their traditional bases, but ideology rarely transcends allegiance to traditional leaders in Lebanon. Many consider this tendency to be problematic for Lebanese democracy, and several new parties have emerged (such as the very vocal Hayyabina) as outspoken advocates for secularisation.
Although the sheer number of political parties in Lebanon makes an exhaustive list impossible, the following offers a brief overview of the major political parties and groupings active in Lebanese politics today:
Amal
Free Patriotic Movement
Future Movement
Hezballah
Lebanese Forces
Progressive Socialist Party
Qornet Shehwan Gathering
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Amal
Website
“Amal” is the Arabic word for hope and an acronym for the movement’s full name, the Lebanese Resistance Detachments (Afwaj al-Mouqawma al-Loubnaniyeh). Amal was formed shortly before the outbreak of the civil war in 1975 as the military wing of the Movement of the Disinherited, a group founded the year before by prominent Shia leader Imam Moussa Sadr.
Amal was very active during the war, fighting primarily against the Palestinians, the Druze-dominated Progressive Socialist Party, and fellow Shia group Hezballah.
Amal was closely allied with the Syrians during the war, and continued to support Syria in years that followed. Amal remains one of the few pro-Syrian groups represented in the Lebanese parliament since the Syrian withdrawal in April 2005.
Amal is a largely Shia party, and dominates the leadership of the Shia community along with Hezballah. Amal’s leader, Nabih Berri, currently serves as speaker of parliament (the highest Shia political appointment), a position he has held since 1992.
Free Patriotic Movement
Website
Although the FPM’s primary constituency is Maronite Christian, the party’s commitment to secularism has won it adherents from outside the Maronite and Christian communities.
The party revolves around its leader and founder, General Michel Aoun, a former military commander who served briefly (and controversially) as prime minister in 1988-90: only minutes before President Amin Gemayel’s term expired in 1988, he appointed Aoun prime minister of a caretaker government in a last-ditch effort to keep pro-Syrians from gaining executive power in the country. This move was widely viewed as a violation of the National Pact (which stipulates that the prime minister must always be Sunni), and the outgoing PM and his government refused to step down, so two rival governments began operating in Lebanon simultaneously. Aoun declared war on Syria, but with limited support inside Lebanon and virtually none among the international community, he was eventually defeated and forced to flee to France. A number of legal charges were brought against him, all of which were cleared in early May 2005. Aoun returned from his prolonged exile in Paris shortly thereafter, and led the FPM to considerable success in the May-June parliamentary elections of that year.
Unlike many other political groupings in the country, the FPM has firm platforms on many political and economic issues in Lebanon, and strives to keep the party policy-based. In September 2005, the FPM was formally converted into an official Lebanese political party.
The FPM was only founded after Aoun went into exile in 1991. However, he and his followers (the “Aounists,” most of whom went on to join the FPM) played a major role in the final chapters of the civil war, fighting most notably against the Syrians and a rival Maronite faction, the Lebanese Forces, led by Samir Geagea. Although considerably tempered, the Aoun-Geagea rivalry for Maronite leadership persists to this day.
Future Movement (Tayyar al-Mustaqbal)
Website
The Future Movement only became a cohesive political grouping after the 14 February 2005 assassination of its leader Rafik Hariri. Lebanese of a variety of sects rallied behind Mustaqbal, and what had previously been a loose social association solidified, developing specific objectives and political platforms under the leadership of Hariri’s son Saad.
Although Sunnis dominate Mustaqbal, like the FPM, it is one of the few Lebanese parties that enjoys tangible support from members of other religious groups. Mustaqbal captured the parliamentary majority in the 2005 elections, and is currently in the process of legally transforming into an official political party - a process through which it hopes to boost its secular credentials. The current Lebanese Prime Minister, Fuad Seniora, belongs to the Future Movement.
Hezballah
Hezballah (“the Party of God” in Arabic) formed in 1982 from a number of Shia groups opposed to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. It first publicly announced its existence in 1985. Before that time, the group was more of a loose coalition than a party.
From its earliest days, Hezballah has received considerable guidance and support from Iran. However, Hezballah renounced its aim of creating an Islamic Republic in Lebanon in the early 1990s. Its current Secretary General, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, came to power at the request of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 1992.
Syria has also provided Hezballah with significant support over the years. Hezballah, along with Amal, is one of the only pro-Syrian parties to retain power and a presence in parliament after the Syrian withdrawal in April 2005. The cabinet formed in July 2005 was the first to include a Hezballah member (Minister of Energy Mohammad Fneish).
Hezballah has been active in Lebanese politics since the end of the war, and remains the dominant Shia political party along with Amal. In addition to its political branch, Hezballah provides a wide array of social services to its constituents. It also maintains a military wing, the Islamic Resistance. Military and diplomatic opposition to the occupation of Lebanese territory by Israel, and the protection of the country against Israeli aggressions, remain core tenets of Hezballah policy.
Lebanese Forces
Website
The Lebanese Forces emerged in the late 1970s as a loose coalition of Christian militias under Maronite leader Bachir Gemayel. The LF quickly rose as a dominant Christian force in the civil war, partially due to its practice of destroying or (often forcibly) absorbing most of its competition.
The LF was created, however, to fill two voids in Lebanon’s Christian community: defense through its military activities, and representation through political and economic support and a range of media outlets.
After Gemayel’s assassination in 1982 (while president-elect), the LF lost some of its strength and cohesion until the emergence of Samir Geagea as the party’s leader in 1986.
The LF played a major, brutal role in the war, fighting primarily against Palestinian militias and the mainly Druze PSP. However, in the war’s final years, the LF also fell into a devastating battle against fellow Maronites led by rival leader General Michel Aoun.
After the end of the civil war, the LF transformed from a militia into a political party. However, Geagea repeatedly declined offers to join the government due to his objection to Syria’s role in Lebanon.
In 1994, the government arrested Geagea and dissolved the LF. Geagea was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment in judicial proceedings that were widely condemned as politically motivated and biased by the international human rights community.
In 2005, changes in the Lebanese political landscape after the Syrian withdrawal led the government to lift the ban on the LF and, in July, issue Geagea a full pardon.
The LF, which now stands as an official political party, contested the May-June elections under the leadership of Geagea’s wife Sitrida.
Progressive Socialist Party
Website
The Progressive Socialist Party was founded in January 1949, and registered as a political party two months later.
Although it was founded by 6 people from diverse backgrounds, it was dominated by Kamal Jumblatt, a notable Lebanese politician and traditional Druze leader. After Jumblatt’s assassination in 1977, PSP leadership passed to his son, Walid Jumblatt.
It is ideologically secular, and its ranks include leftists from various sectarian groups. However, the majority of its adherents and leaders belong to the Druze sect.
The PSP played a major role in the civil war, battling for control over Mount Lebanon and the Chouf region with rival militias, in particular the Christian Lebanese Forces. The PSP served as the de facto government in areas it conquered, setting up a highly efficient civil administration that functioned until the end of the war.
Since that time, the PSP has been consistently represented in both the government and the National Assembly. For much of the post-war period, the PSP was staunchly pro-Syrian.
However, a growing disenchantment with Damascus was cemented by the attempted assassination of PSP MP Marwan Hamade in October 2004. Hamade, one of four ministers who had recently resigned from the cabinet in protest against Syrian interference in Lebanon, survived a car bombing in Beirut on October 1 that killed his driver and left a bodyguard gravely wounded.
The PSP - along with much of the domestic and international community - suspected Syria of having orchestrated the attack as both an act of revenge against Hamade and a warning to other anti-Syrian Lebanese. Although Syria has denied any involvement in the attempt on Hamade’s life, and no guilty party has yet been legally established, the PSP - personified by Walid Jumblatt - emerged thereafter as a cornerstone of the anti-Syrian opposition.
Qornet Shehwan Gathering
The Qornet Shehwan Gathering was founded in April 2001, under the blessing (and tutelage) of Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, as a coalition of primarily Christian intellectuals and politicians opposed to the Syrian presence in Lebanon.
It is not a political party. Although the majority of its members are independents, many also belong to (and even lead) parties, such as the Kataeb (also known as the Phalange Party) and the National Liberal Party. Nonetheless, Qornet Shehwan follows a fixed set of principles and works towards common objectives, as established in its founding document.
Although the support for it has somewhat diminished since the return of Christian leaders Michel Aoun and Samir Geagea in 2005, it remains a major political and electoral force in Lebanon.
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March 8 alliance: Amal, Hezbollah. Named for the demonstration staged by the two parties on 8 March 2005 to “thank” Syria for its assistance and denounce Western interference in the country, in particular through UNSCR 1559.
March 14 alliance: Future Movement, Progressive Socialist Party, Lebanese Forces, Qornet Shehwan Gathering. Named for the demonstration staged by these parties (along with others, most conspicuously the Free Patriotic Movement, who are not currently considered part of the March 14 alliance) on 14 March 2005, demanding Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon and the truth about Rafik Hariri’s assassination.
Loyalists: this term often includes the March 8 alliance, along with the pro-Syrian Christians (most notably President Emile Lahoud) who are still in power, many of whom do not belong to any of the major political parties. The term “loyalists” was previously paired with a contrasting “opposition” grouping consisting of the March 14 alliance and the FPM. However, as the former opposition now holds the parliamentary majority, the term has fallen into obsolescence. General Aoun has attempted to mainstream the usage of “opposition” to describe the FPM and other parliamentary parties who are not represented in the cabinet. However this has yet to become commonplace, probably due to the strong associations most Lebanese still make between the term “opposition” and the March 14 forces.