Day: April 1, 2023

At its eighth national convention 2023, the Free Patriotic Movement circulated the following political paper:

‘From the heart of the crises oppressing Lebanon and in the face of the pain of the Lebanese and their cry of despair which require a different political practice, the Free Patriotic Movement proclaims an act of faith in Lebanon and its confidence in the possibility of saving and perpetuating it, based on its long history in which its people have proven their ability to overcome hardships thanks to their human resources and the will of its people to live. We are a party that does neither despair nor give up. We have drawn our struggle from the very spirit of the people, and we persevere through the strength of the youth, driven by the authenticity of the cause, the clarity of the vision, the purity of the identity, as well as our unchanging principles that the founding president, General Michel Aoun, firmly implanted in us. Our identity is our cause, which is none other than Lebanon, through its territory and its people.

For the liberation of its territory and the restoration of sovereignty, we fought; and for human dignity, we confronted; and for the reconstruction of the state, we will continue our struggle, regardless of the sacrifices made. Our cause is our compass; it guides us in order to make us avoid losing our path and our vision. Our cause is the establishment of a viable civil state, reinforced by a democratic system, by an independent judiciary, and by an expanded decentralization that embraces diversity and encourages the balanced development of sectors and regions, to be able to face crises, to overcome them, even to anticipate them. A free, sovereign and stable state which foundations are based on the free man, on an interactive society, on a free and productive economy, as well as on parties organizing democracy and applying its principles.

The political paper 2023 VIII National Convention on the basis of the foregoing, we hope that the general convention of the Free Patriotic Movement held this year will be the starting point for a new dynamic within the party, based on respect for its rules and encompassing all communities and sects combined, a dynamic that can positively reflect on the challenges of the country and be embodied in a vision, both for the party and for Lebanon, which will extend in the short term until 2030 and in the long term until in 2050. This vision is based on what we have previously established as political, economic and financial reform programs. It is also based on our accomplished vision to develop the system, as well as on the sheet of presidential priorities which reflects our conception of electing a President of the Republic as an absolute priority, since there is no Republic without a Presidency, and that there is no salvation for Lebanon, no reform without a President who will lead the way. This year, our vision revolves around three axes: the Free Patriotic Movement – the Community – the Entity. I – The Free Patriotic Movement, an active institution The Free Patriotic Movement is inspired by the experience of the previous years, carried by the energy of renewal carried by its young people in order to create an active and effective institution, centered on the human being, the territory and the interaction between them; an institution which strength lies in the balance and harmony between well-established principles and the ability to evolve and adapt, as well as in the adoption of a regulatory hierarchy within the framework of flexibility and diversity; an institution driven by the concerns, pain, rights, livelihoods and dignity of people. We relate these concerns to actions and commitment to make the wanted change, without only using at words stripped of any action. Sometimes we succeed, and other times we fail, but we never stop working and we never tire of trying again. We take the initiative and act, without waiting for instructions from abroad; on the contrary, we seek rather to put the outside at the service and for the benefit of Lebanon. We dialogue, without becoming prisoners of the axes, and we work to free Lebanon from them, and to Lebanonize its decisions. We bring together without separating, we unite without dividing because we believe in the unity of Lebanon and we work to ensure it, refusing any division of the homeland. We are the party of authenticity and renewal, we keep in our consciousness and in our memory the history of Lebanon. We weave our identity from its components; we embrace all its communities; we carry its values in our conscience and we practice them on a daily basis.

The generations of the Free Patriotic Movement are linked by a cord of belonging, bequeathing to each other the founding principles, each generation evolving through its own experiences. Our party respects traditions, but it rebels against the traditional. Its past is a source of pride for its present, and its present is ammunition for its future. It is a party that was born from the heart of the army and whose young people grew up in the arenas of struggle; it is essential that they remain there alongside the demands and rights of the people. It is a party that wishes for Lebanon what it wishes for itself and promises its generations, especially the youth, that it will strive to be: 2023 VIII National Convention – An institution that embraces the ambition of young people and helps them achieve the vision they have for their future. – An institution carrying on the one hand, a promising project for society with human, economic and social dimensions, and on the other hand, an entity project with civilizational, cultural and existential dimensions. – An institution that condemns violence and proclaims itself adept at a culture of peace, acceptance of others and respect for their right to be different, based on values and customs. – An institution that brings out the potential of its members, so that they realize themselves in an executive and financial decentralization within their regions, whilst being organized within the framework of the institution by the centralization of political and mediating decisions, so that the image of their party reflects the image of the state to which they aspire. – An institution that stimulates its members and helps them to invest in creative and productive projects that will benefit both their party with some self-financing, and their society with economic benefits and employment opportunities. II – The community: A capable society The Free Patriotic Movement carries a social project for Lebanon, based on the citizen who deserves a decent life and the right to grow within the framework of sustainable development and in an environment free from corruption, so that every woman and every man can benefit from work opportunities, medical and social security; every child must have the right to be cared for, and every student must have priority in education before any stranger; and the elderly should have the right to old age pension; everyone must have the right to security, to the protection of their savings and to the preservation of their deposits. ???? VIII National Convention 4 ???? VIII National Convention Since a society cannot be founded on corruption, the Free Patriotic Movement calls for its uprooting from the spirit and culture of the Lebanese, in order to achieve its extraction from state institutions and achieve successful reform. Society does not evolve with corruption and a state does not exist without accountability, and Lebanon will not recover if the policy of impunity persists against those who looted people’s money, brankrupted the state and destroyed the country.

Along with reform and the fight against corruption, Lebanon needs a qualitative and radical change to revive its economy, politically and financially slaughtered by the establishment of corruption. Corruption has caused the collapse of the rentier economy, and the time has come to establish a free and productive economy: whether in agriculture, industry, tourism and the knowledge economy. This will result in prosperity and justice for the society and will ensure the well-being of the citizen, as opposed to the monopolistic and rentier economy, perpetuated by the system of authoritarianism and corruption. It is time to build a regionally balanced economy, based on individual initiative and energizing the private sector; an economy that takes advantage of the natural resources of Lebanon: water, gas, oil, sun, air, and which also relies on the human resources of residents and expatriates; an economy that invests in Lebanese diversity, climatic, cultural, touristic, archaeological and religious, and that mobilizes the power of Lebanese creativity in the fields of science, art, literature and knowledge economy. It is indeed the economy on which we are working so that there is a sovereign fund relating to oil and gas, and a trust fund in order to compensate for the losses of depositors and to provide citizens with the ???? VIII National Convention 5 ???? VIII National Convention necessary services. We call for unanimity among the Lebanese around this type of economy, in order to achieve prosperity which will become for all a field of competition between them, a substitute for their conflicts and which will put an end to the era of divergences, antagonisms and divisions, and achieve a stability that will reassure citizens about their future. III – The entity: a unique homeland We are a cause-driven party that has taken on the mission of preserving Lebanon as one unique country. Unique by the specificity of its components, its message and its balances. Unique in the equality of its partnership, the flexibility and tenacity of its people. Unique in its freedom, which is the reason for its existence; it is surrounded by crises, in the midst of which it constantly struggles to preserve its sovereignty and independence. That is why it is our duty, all of us, as Lebanese, to establish a system based on global sovereignty. Sovereignty in its broadest sense, which is not only sovereignty in terms of borders, rights and territory, but also sovereignty of national decision-making, sovereignty of laws, of justice, of the effective judicial system, where all Lebanese are called to realize their sovereignty in making decisions and choices. And if the Lebanese wish to be equal in their Lebaneseness, effectively sovereign in their decisions, truly free in their choice and truly independent in their will, they must start a dialogue among themselves and propose solutions to their problems without any sponsor or external tutelage. We see in ourselves a model for this: we are a party that is sovereign in its character, independent in its nature and free in its decisions. Sovereignty, freedom and independence are ingrained in our national genes.

Our belonging is to Lebanon and our loyalty is to it alone. We believe that its strength lies in its diversity, which is the source of its cultural and social richness. We believe in independence and practice it, but we reject isolation and condemn it. Our diverse Lebanon is a message of openness, communication and interaction with the East, the Gulf and the Mediterranean.

From the point of view of sovereignty, we wish to cooperate with our close environment but also with the remote one in which our compatriots are dispersed, and who have the right to recover the nationality of their homeland, to vote and to run for elections where they are, in a district of their own; this is the category whose remittances provide essential support to our economy and livelihoods. On the other hand, it is imminent to keep our youth and future generations away from despair and emigration, and to educate and value them so that they become a hard core for the homeland.

Our starting point is the partnership and the national consensus among the Lebanese, and any imbalance at this level shakes the balance of Lebanon. A balanced partnership constitutes a mutual guarantee between the Lebanese as well as a force of protection for them; by losing it they will turn into fearful beings who distrust each other. A balanced and equitable partnership establishes a state of truth and strong institutions through their political, external, exclusive monetary and defense centralization, and extended administrative and financial decentralization.

This is the essence of the pact of national understanding, part of which ???? VIII National Convention 7 ???? VIII National Convention has been executed – which is good – and part of which has remained unexecuted, and which includes a section which has proven, with experience, as having to be modified and evolved in order to preserve Lebanon’s unique identity and national consensus. In conclusion, we believe in a strong Lebanon and in the need to preserve all the elements of its strength, including the agreements that the Lebanese are building among themselves, provided that they are not made to the detriment of the country’s interests, and that they are not temporary in their seasonality and interest.

We in the party seek to build national understandings in all directions and dimensions, in which Lebanon’s interest comes first, then the interest of the party. One of the key elements of Lebanon’s strength is its cultural identity, and any attack on its diversity, its characteristics and its particularity, whether through displacement, asylum or unnatural demographic change, constitutes an attack on all the components of the country. The collapse of any component means the collapse of them all and the downfall of the country, not to mention the dangers of any security upheaval.

It remains that the Free Patriotic Movement, whether in a position of governance or opposition, whether it is on the sidelines or in a position of participation, will always carry the cause in its thoughts, in its heart and in its actions, and will continue to reflect the people’s wishes, sorrows and hopes; the party will cleanse itself of all falsehoods stemming from its actions or wrongly attributed to it, so that it always remains a source of radiance and hope, no matter how strong darkness and despair are.”

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

Head of the “Democratic Gathering”, MP Taymour Jumblatt, reaffirmed today the position of his Bloc and the Progressive Socialist Party in calling for “searching for a consensus figure for the presidency of the republic, who will not be a side or constitute a challenge to anyone, and has a reform and rescue vision for the country, for this is Lebanon’s basic guarantee as it flounders under economic, social, financial and other crises.’

This call has been previously sent out by PSP Chief Walid Jumblatt and announced in all communications and deliberations at home and abroad.

‘Enough with the imaginations of some, our position is the same, and we look forward to a moment of relief for the homeland, through a new era that does not tolerate the reproduction of crises and establishes its return to existence and the formation of its constitutional, executive and administrative powers,’ MP Jumblatt said in an issued statement.

During Saturday’s meetings at Al-Mukhtara Palace, MP Jumblatt also discussed the issue of municipal elections and the looming atmosphere of obstruction or postponement in this regard, calling for “removing all obstacles that prevent their holding and stand before this important juncture on the way to building the state and preserving institutions.”

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon