March 14 Suffers Pre-Mature Aging...Seeks Re-organization

Local Editor

"As-Safir" Lebanese newspaper confirmed Thursday "there is no secret that there is a big difference between March 14 scene that followed the assassination of former PM Rafiq Hariri in 2005, and that of October 2012 that followed the assassination of Major General Wissam al-Hassan."

As the daily highlighted that there are a lot of regional and international developments, it also noted: Hariri's political position and popularity certainly varies from al-Hassan's nature, and his shadow work.

Meanwhile, it added that the transformations that occurred within "March 14" structure and the pattern of relations its constituents turned with time to a gap in this experience.
On the level of March 14 public opinion, it is not difficult to detect the sharp criticism to the leaders, every while and then, to object their inclination towards bargains and trade-off deals at the expense of principles and values.

7 years on its birth, the political body of March 14 became exhausted. It seems that this body is showing signs of premature aging under the pressure of divergences and self-calculations among its members.
In this context, it's sufficient to address some March 14 experiences to show the fundamental distinctions that go beyond the limits of diversity within unity, to differences on the options.

Young March 14 enthusiasts feel they need some kind of victory following a series of setbacks. They accuse the political leadership of bringing March 14 out of its popular context and its first patent and turning it into a mere political tool used in the domestic game.
In parallel, if it was said that March 14 forces are more organized than March 8, this argument had been cracked with time.

Moreover, former PM Saad Hariri's absence from Lebanon disrupted the party leadership, thus affecting the March 14 forces' action mechanism.
According to the daily, the Salafist and extremist trends are clearly on the rise, as former PM Saad Hariri lost control over them knowing that he had relied on them at one point in the confrontation with Hizbullah.
For his part, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has been able to exploit former PM Hariri's absence to his own advantage.
In this context, as-Safir learned that both Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel and the head of the Future parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Siniora met in a dinner table in Bikfayeh in the presence of Nadir Haririr and other March 14 officials. The discussions focused on organizing March 14 positions.

Similarly, the head of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea called former President Amin Gemayel. The two men agreed on meeting through respective envoys in order to hold further discussions.

Key Future Movement sources told as-Safir that preparations are ongoing for taking practical steps within the framework of the constitution and the law in order to bring down PM Najib Mikati's government.

"The position that Siniora declared during al-Hassan's assassination has not changed, and therefore no dialogue before the resignation of the government," Siniora's sources told the daily.


Source: as-Safir daily, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org