Democratic Left Movement (Lebanon)

The Democratic Left Movement (DLM, Arabic, ĥarakatu-l-yasāri-d-dimuqrātī, Arabic acronym HYD), is a leftist, secular political party in Lebanon. It was founded in September 2004 by left-wing intellectuals and activists who had previously split from the Lebanese Communist Party over the LCP's alleged "subservience" to Damascus among other complaints. The party advocates "a European-style social democracy to reduce the gap between the rich and poor without compromising freedom or economic productivity". It is one of only a few parties to call for a secular, non-confessional state.

In the 2005 elections, the DLM won its first seat in parliament representing the Tripoli district. In 2009, the party again won a single seat, this time representing the West Bekaa district. It is a member of the March 14 Alliance parliamentary bloc.

Formation

On September 13, 2000, a group calling itself "the reform and democracy forces in the Lebanese Communist Party" wrote an open letter demanding the resignation of the Communist Party's leadership. Led by Elias Attallah, the dissidents accused the LCP's leaders of subservience to Syria and called for full democratization of the party and abandonment of the Stalinist line. Attalah was expelled from the Communist Party on September 26th of that year.

These activists and intellectuals who split from the Lebanese Communist Party formed what would become the Democratic Left Movement. An initial "temporary preparatory committee" for the movement emerged, which issued statements highly critical of Syrian intervention in Lebanon and called for the birth of a new left. In September 2004, the Democratic Left Movement was officially formed.

History

By the late 1980s, unknown people embarked on an assassination spree that resulted in purging known leftist intellectuals such as Hussein Mroue and Mahdi Amel among others . This was coupled with the downfall of the number one supporter of leftists in Lebanon, the Soviet Union. It also marked the beginning of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon that lasted until April 26, 2005.

Living under Syrian tutelage stirred a dilemma among the leftists' leadership, intellectuals' and rank and file. Should the left contend to this existence under the pretext of fending off external danger? Or should it seek democracy first as a means for the liberation of the Arab people and the key to fending off all kinds of danger, whether external or internal.

The leftist division survives to this day and has, since its eruption, witnessed several developments. The first and foremost of these developments was the resignation of George Hawi, the Lebanese Communist Party's (LCP) leader and strong figure, in 1992. Hawi was quoted as saying that he better "leave the boat before it wrecks," in reference to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Following Hawi, several communist voices started calling for the rejection of the soviet model and the revival of the party's role as a spearhead in the fight for Lebanon's sovereignty and independence.

The first breach among the leftists, however, occurred among the rank and file of students with the spontaneous creation of what came to be called as the Independent Leftist Groups. These groups scored some initial success which in turn encouraged opposition factions within the LCP to revolt against the leadership and start calling for the renewal of the structure, thought and perceptions of the left.

At the time, the gap between the LCP leadership and leftist intellectuals was further widening. To add insult to injury, the LCP leadership expelled a number of its student members in an attempt to shutdown opposition voices within the party.

The expelled students, however, had different ideas and showed signs of determination and strong will as they created what came to be known as the Communist Students Organization. The organization led to further breaches within the LCP.

Divisions within the LCP reached their climax in 2004 when during the Ninth Assembly; quasi-Stalinists found their way to top echelons of the leadership after the party witnessed wide mismanagement of its elections and democratic process. The undemocratic elections for their part saw officials tampering with membership lists in order to keep their loyalists enlisted while scratching the names of the supporters of their opponents.

This time, LCP's opposition factions walked out on their party and alongside other leftist intellectuals as well as independent leftist groups, formed what came to be known as the Democratic Left Movement.

Ideological profile

The Democratic Left Movement predominantly advocates "a European-style social democracy to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor without compromising freedom or economic productivity". It identifies itself as center-left economically. However, when founded, the movement adopted a model to allow different views to coexist in which various internal movements are encouraged and represented in a national body. Thus, the DLM's ideology is a broad leftist platform that forms the common denominator among its constituents. It is one of only a few parties to call for a secular, non-confessional state.

The DLM actively participated in the Cedar Revolution, peaking on March 14, 2005, when over a million demonstrators gathered against the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. Samir Kassir, a founder of the movement, played a significant role in orchestrating the demonstrations.

The movement remains an outspoken critic of alleged Syrian meddling in internal Lebanese affairs, citing its participation in the March 14 Alliance as "defending Lebanese independence against the Syrian regime’s attacks and against Hezbollah and its allies’ attempts to impose their views and choices".

Hawi and Kassir assassinations

On June 2, 2005, Samir Kassir, one of the founders of the movement, and a prominent Lebanese journalist and political analyst, was assassinated. Less than one month later, on June 21, 2005, George Hawi, the former secretary general of the Lebanese Communist Party , was also assassinated by a car bomb in Beirut. The movement blames Damascus and the government of President Bashar al-Assad, and Syrian allies in the Lebanese security apparatus responsible.

Internal Elections

On April 29, 2007, elections were held internally to elect new members to the movement's national assembly. Two lists competed, one supported by Elias Atallah, and representing the leadership's rhetoric at that time, and the other containing 14 all-youth candidates named Keep Left which called for the movement to not lose its leftist identity while insisting on being a part of March 14. The results were surprising, as the youth list managed to garner 34% of the votes, enabling all of the list to be elected to the national assembly.

Electoral results

In the legislative elections of May and June 2005, the DLM won one seat in the Lebanese Parliament to become the first leftist, secular political party in parliament. Representing the Maronite seat of Tripoli, it was held by the movement's leader, Elias Atallah, as a part of the March 14 Alliance. However, in the 2009 legislative elections, Atallah could not seek reelection because of the 14 March coalition's selection of Samer Saadeh, a Kataeb Party candidate and son of former Phalange Party leader Georges Saadeh, to run on the coalition's list in the Tripoli district. Meanwhile, Dr Amin Wehbi, another DLM candidate, won a Shiite parliamentarian seat in the West Bekaa district on the 14 March coalition's list.

See also

• Cedar Revolution
• March 14 Alliance
• Samir Kassir
• Elias Atallah

External links

• Democratic Left Movement - official website
• Alternative Online - online edition
• Middle East Intelligence Bulletin - Press Release