Groups of young leftists are expected to lend the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) a hand and support its candidate Hikmat Deeb during the Baabda-Aley by-elections on Sep. 14.
Coordination between leftists and supporters of former Army General Michel Aoun date back to a few years ago when the two groups made alliances in different university elections and joined each on anti-government protests.
Young leftists are organized into the Independent Leftist Groups (ILG), whose membership includes the American University of Beirut’s No Frontiers, the Lebanese American University’s Pablo Neruda, Balamand University’s Direct Action, the Independent Direct Line Group, and Communist Students, which is a group of young members expelled from the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP).
ILG estimated their voting power in Baabda-Aley at 500 votes, a low figure compared to the FPM’s estimated 15,000. Leftists believe that they could register some 15 delegates to help in vote-counting. They said they hoped to provide the FPM with some 50 volunteers on the day of elections.
The Aounists invited leftists for a meeting Thursday to rally their support. Leftist sources said the FPM requested their help in return for further future coordination. But this invitation caused divisions among the rank and file of leftists, and a heated debate broke out.
While the first group argued that independent leftists should join the FPM and support its anti-Syrian and anti-government rhetoric, the other faction said there were fundamental ideological differences between ILG and the FPM. The second group also argued against the practices of General Aoun during his military rule in parts of Lebanon at the end of the 1980s.
“The pro-Syrian regime is splitting the opposition by promising them ministerial and other official positions,” Houssam Nassif, a member of No Frontiers told The Daily Star. “As a result, scores of activists from the disbanded Lebanese Forces and the National Liberal Party deserted the opposition on instructions from their leadership.” Leftists also criticized the Qornet Shehwan Gathering for failing to support Deeb. “Gemayel sided with the other candidate, Henri Helou, so that Jumblatt would take Gemayel’s MP Antoine Ghanem on his electoral list again in the 2005 parliamentary elections,” Nassif said.
Sources close to Thursday’s meeting also revealed part of the FPM and Deeb’s platform, saying it would contain items relevant to socioeconomic problems that lie at the core of leftist rhetoric.
“Like the FPM, we are opposed to the Syrian influence in Lebanon and that was one reason why some of us were expelled from the LCP,” he said.
Leftists supporting the FPM and its candidate said they welcomed the Aounists’ decision to participate in elections. “We’ve been trying to convince them that by boycotting parliamentary and municipal elections, they would be giving way to pro-government candidates and that they should participate.”
But other leftist militants opposed to joining the electoral battle on the FPM’s side argued that they were fundamentally opposed to the FPM’s beliefs. “We oppose Syrian influence, but that does not mean we’re Lebanese chauvinists. By definition, we are part of an international movement and unlike the FPM, we classify conflicts as class struggles rather than national ones,” said a member of No Frontiers who preferred to remain anonymous.
The member added that all leftists were against political inheritance and so opposed to Henri Helou, who is running after the seat became vacant on the death of his father, Pierre.
But the faction inclining toward supporting the FPM looked dominant and on its way to win the vote that would decide the course of leftist activity in by-elections. The young activists said they were determined to convince other senior leftists to support the FPM.
“Former Bint Jbeil MP Habib Sadeq and his Democratic Forum are estimated to have a 3,000-strong voting bloc in Baabda-Aley, but the former MP sounded reluctant about taking Deeb’s side,” Nassif said, adding that at a time when other opposition factions seemed to have yielded to government pressure and softened their tone, leftists felt compelled to support the Aounists.
“Helou, Gemayel, Jumblatt and Arslan are all feudal families and we should do anything to try to replace them in the Parliament with some new blood,” he added.
Leftists said that numbers showed Helou leading by some 20 percent of the total votes. “If Deeb hits the 40 percentile threshold, that would be a good start for all opposition forces,” Nassif concluded.