Lebanon’s anti-Syrian March 14 alliance now defunct

 Fares Saeed, the coordinator of the March 14 alliance, proclaimed the end of the coalition.

In an interview with the daily Al Jumhuriyyah, Saeed confirmed that while the organisation was now terminated, its popular cause remained as valid as ever because its goal was sovereignty and independence.

“These exist,” affirmed Saeed, and “will endure”.

The surprising interview was an indirect acknowledgement that the election of President Michel Aoun and the appointment of Prime Minister Sa‘ad Hariri were clear March 8 victories.

In Saeed’s words, and even if “Lebanon cannot function with the net victory of one group against the net loss of another, … today there is a victory for the March 8 alliance”

To alleviate what he perceived as a significant loss of authority, Saeed cited Kamal Junblatt—who did not win with the “Lebanese Front” at the height of the 1975-1990 civil war [after the Syrian Ba‘ath regime objected], crushing the Druze leader’s aspirations—and Bashir Gemayel who, likewise, did not win with his “National Movement”, when he was assassinated.

Nevertheless, he recognised that the attempt to re-install a security system over Lebanon was successful, although he insisted that it was a Syrian-Iranian condominium.

“What must prevail is the cause of Lebanon, and Lebanon is indispensable to install the concept of co-existence in it”, he insisted, as Saeed rejected the very idea of a new security arrangement—which was a reality.

Saeed bluntly said: “Apart from the distribution of portfolios and internal balances within the new [Hariri] government, it is now clear that what Lebanon is losing is its case [for sovereignty and independence], and that the priority is Iran and its influence in the region”.

“After the fall of Aleppo,” he told Al Jumhuriyyah, “the government that was just formed was ushered in according to Iranian terms, as if there is a decision for a return of the Syrian-Iranian security regime” to control and guide Beirut’s political destiny.

According to Saeed, pragmatism and personal interests dominated current views instead of principles.

It is for such reasons, he underscored, that the Syrian-Iranian security project emerged in Lebanon.

Saeed called on the Lebanese to overlook mundane concerns over which ministers filled which posts, because far greater challenges confronted the country, including, he opined, the very identity of the state, internal peace, and political stability.

“When the Russian Ambassador in Ankara is assassinated because of Aleppo”, he declared, “this is yet another piece of evidence that the whole region is threatened by instability, and that the dominance of one team over the government’s decisions does not help internal stability”.

What is needed, he concluded, is a new direction that will empower elites to place the interests of the nation above everything else

source : gulfnews