Free Patriotic Movement

Date Founded: The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) could be traced back to the years 1988-1990, when former army commander General Michel Aoun was appointed interim prime minister of Lebanon by then President Amin Gemayel. Aoun's appointment came ten minutes before the end of Gemayel's presidential mandate to head a transitional government tasked with preparing elections.

Leadership: The FPM (known in Arabic as Al-Tayyar al-Wattani al-Hurr) is headed By General Michel Aoun. Any discussion about the FPM is inevitably tied up to General Aoun who has been, and still is, the driving force behind this Movement.

Background: The emergence of  the Movement as a political force took place amidst a popular consensus to liberate Lebanon from Syrian occupation. In 1989, Aoun declared war against Syria. His action won the hearts of  Lebanese people from all factions and religious communities. In December 1989, hundreds of thousands rallied to form a human shield around the fortified palace as the Syrian army prepared to attack the compound to force Aoun out. Aoun surrendered in 1990 after a massive Syrian air and ground attack against areas under his control and sought political asylum in the French embassy in Beirut.Ten months later he flew to France to start a 15-year exile period.

Popularity: Despite his continuing exile in France, Aoun has remained the country's most prominent opposition figure. Although support for Aoun is most visible within the Christian community, where criticism of the Syrian occupation was less taboo, he has also retained considerable popularity among Lebanese Muslims.

Momentum: The FPM gained momentum during Aoun's exile years. During these years, the Movement was repetitively targeted by the Lebanese authorities, and thousands of its supporters were arrested, jailed and prosecuted. While in Paris, Aoun led the FPM from abroad.

Organization: Until recently, Aoun's followers in Lebanon neglected to establish a highly-structured organization, in part to escape persecution by Syrian and Lebanese intelligence. Around 4,000 "Aounists" have been arrested and detained since 1990. In recent years, as the scale of persecution gradually declined, the movement became consolidated as the Free Patriotic Movement (Al-Tayyar al-Watani al-Hurr). The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) has become particularly active in professional and academic circles, counting over 600 teachers, 730 engineers, 300 lawyers and 250 dentists among its members. Since April of last year (2004), the FPM has organized numerous demonstrations drawing thousands of Lebanese into the streets. In addition, FPM student activists have launched a highly successful campaign to protest the continuing presence of nearly one million Syrian workers in the country by performing menial labor tasks typically done by Syrians laborers.

Presence: The FPM brings together a select group of committed activists who are in their majority young, university students, lawyers, physicians, engineers, and teachers who have volunteered to achieve the national objectives.  The FPM has a strong presence on university campuses and within the syndicates and unions of the liberal professions, and in most regions, working to recruit and mobilize the active forces of civil society and increase the level of their involvement in the patriotic cause.

Electoral Success: The Movement reaped the benefit of its sacrifices when its leader returned to Lebanon on May 7, 2005, and contested the legislative elections (held between May 29 and June 21, 2005), winning 21 seats in the 128-member National Assembly.

Objectives

The FPM defines itself as a movement for liberation and change aiming at:

• Revitalizing the democratic institutions.
• Rehabilitating the country's own armed forces.
• Reforming the judiciary in such a way as to enshrine the separation of powers.
• Developing a plan for economic recovery.
• Cleansing and restructuring the Lebanese administration.
• Preserving the environment.
• Devising a new national road map centered on Lebanese citizenship in order to extricate the country from the communitarian shackles. The country must fully engage its eternal mission, that of a land of dialogue between cultures, a factor of peace in the Middle East, and a message of hope in a world torn by the clash of civilizations.
• Rehabilitating the role of education.
• Training the citizens to live their citizenship is preparing them from youth for dialogue and exposing them to diversity as well as the respect of others. Education also plays a pioneering role in the economy because it secures a match between the supply and the demand in the job market.
• Reviving the initiative in foreign policy so that Lebanon can fulfill its historic mission as an agent of peace and dialogue.
• Defending public freedoms by recognizing the fundamental rights of citizens, namely the right to demonstrate, associate and participate in public life.
• Insure a fair access to health services. The costs of the health services are very high as a consequence of a plethoric offer of services and of the absence of cost control mechanism. The right for health care means a fair access to basic health services.