The ties that bind
The March 14 coalition is conventionally described as the temporary intersection of many diverse interests and ideologies within Lebanon’s political landscape. The currents that make up the movement originated from different parts of the country, the thinking goes, and will diverge again in the future. However, leaders from across the March 14 coalition are attempting to create an alliance to outlast short-term political developments. Their efforts have proceeded in fits and starts, but they reached a landmark with the establishment of the March 14 General Secretariat a month ago.
Former March 14 MP Fares Soueid, who serves as the General Secretary, described how the movement has evolved over the years. In 2005, March 14 leaders “thought that this movement was only triggered by the assassination of [former Prime Minister] Rafik Hariri, and the goal of this movement was the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.” As the coalition has found itself entrenched in a drawn-out struggle against the opposition, it found the need to organize its efforts. Hezbollah’s high level of organization contrasted greatly with the informal alliance that bound together the pro-government parties. “The Secretariat is now the center of the coordination of the March 14 movement,” stated Soueid.
Around twenty high-ranking officials in all of the major pro-government parties serve as members of the General Secretariat. They have recently been assembling as often as three times a week, to coordinate their response to political developments. Tripoli MP Mustafa Allouch, who represents the Future Movement, explained why the institution was sorely needed. “Sometimes we have differences with regards with how to respond to daily events or remarks,” he noted. “If members want to go to the media and start talking about the issue, they can go back to the Secretariat to have a clear idea of the consensus of March 14.”
The General Secretariat was envisioned as a professional political team that could act as the public face of the March 14 movement. They have organized visits of pro-government parliamentarians to Cairo and Europe to discuss the crisis in Lebanon with foreign leaders. They also play a growing role in Lebanon’s internal debate. Members of the General Secretariat have recently met with trade unions sympathetic to March 14 and worked to organize Lebanese youth movements. “We want to be part of the dialogue with those who are still searching for the truth,” stated Allouch.
The Secretariat could also play a role in resolving more fundamental differences between the factions of March 14. The parties which share the most in common have, paradoxically, been one of the greatest sources of division within the March 14 Movement. “The majority of problems are between the Christian leaders of March 14, not between the Christian and Muslim leaders. It is a competition between them,” explained Soueid.
Indeed, March 14 is still far from a unified political party. Specifically, Soueid noted how the rivalries between the Christian leaders, who are vying to be the dominant Christian party in the government, have placed the March 14 movement at a competitive disadvantage from the opposition. “What we have opposing March 14 is a highly sophisticated, criminal party,” commented Soueid.
March 14 leaders insist that a great deal of progress has been made over the past three years to unite the movement. It was not that long ago, for example, that many members of March 14 were seen as polar opposites on Lebanon’s political spectrum. “To join Walid Jumblatt with the Lebanese Forces was a very hard job because we had something like 10,000 people killed during the War of the Mountain. And during part of the time when Samir Geagea was in jail, Walid Jumblatt was close to the Syrian regime,” remembered Soueid. Only a series of meetings, held just before Hariri’s assassination in 2005, were able to truly reconcile the two political forces. Now, through the General Secretariat, the two parties coordinate their daily statements and share a broad political vision.
Members of the General Secretariat, however, are quick to play down any suggestions that March 14 is poised to become a single political party. “We are aware that March 14 is a coalition, not a homogenous political party,” explained Antoine Haddad, a member of the General Secretariat representing the Democratic Renewal movement headed by Nassib Lahoud. “We need just to implement our platform, which is limited to achieving the independence of the country and trying to convince the parliamentary minority to return to Lebanese considerations. If we succeed in these two missions, which are not easy tasks, I think this would be an achievement for the country.”
Nevertheless, the increasing coordination of the March 14 parties will only serve to strengthen the bonds tying them together. The members of the General Secretariat see their efforts as the next, but not the final, step on this path. The goal is to transform the March 14 coalition into a movement united by a common vision of Lebanon’s future, rather than merely by a common enemy. It is a long, gradual process fraught with pitfalls; but, after all, the March 14 leaders are used to that sort of struggle.
Picture: Communication Minister Marwan Hamadeh (L) and Samir Geagea (2nd L), leader of Lebanese Forces, attend with other officials a meeting of the March 14th coalition in Beirut, November 22, 2007. (AFP/HO/DALATI AND NOHRA)