The trap of 'priorities' in the platforms of Lebanese political parties

BEIRUT - Since the presumed conclusion of the Lebanese civil war in 1990, the rhetoric of most of the Lebanese political movements has been dominated by the concept of "priorities," of course with each faction prioritizing items of its own platform differently. Flexibility in reshuffling these "priorities " is almost nil. Furthermore, according to the political groups' thought, priority number two can never be achieved before finishing with priority number one.

This means that the possibility of sorting out common interests, based on the platform of each faction, renders hard and rather impossible.

But knowing the structure and dynamics of the Lebanese system, it is safe to assume that flexibility in rhetoric is highly needed in light of the interrelated socio-economic and political issues and their connection to regional and international factors.

Platforms of the main Lebanese factions can be summarized as follows:

Hizbullah: A Muslim Shiite movement which first appeared in the early 1980s. Its main priority is the liberation of South Lebanon - through military resistance - from Israeli occupation.

Whether the party intends to engage in beyond-the-border activity for the liberation of the occupied Palestine is not clear even though indicators point at the end of Hizbullah's military activity after the withdrawal of Israelis from the Shebaa Farms.

Internal socioeconomic issues in Lebanon come second in Hizbullah's list of priorities, while issues such as freedom of expression rank third.

The above argument can be supported by the fact that Hizbullah usually rallies well-organized and massive crowds in pro-resistance festivals while it only sends a few demonstrators to join protests against anti-socioeconomic governmental policies.

The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), is composed of followers of the exiled former Army Commander Michel Aoun. The FPM's priority is the withdrawal of what it depicts as the Syrian "Occupation." FPM also supports the Syria Accountability Act which is before the US Congress for approval. The act gives the US administration the right to impose economic and political pressure against Syria.

FPM lacks a clear vision at the socioeconomic level. It considers such issues to be of secondary importance saying that they cannot be tackled unless the Lebanese government regains its decision that should be independent of any outside intervention.

Other groups such as the secular parties are known to be as the oldest factions in Lebanon. These include the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP), the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) and the Baath Party.

Under the wing of the National Movement during the 1970s, the LCP picked up the Palestinian cause as its number one priority. This meant that the LCP supported the armed struggle, a disputed item which divided the Lebanese society during the early stages of the civil war.

On the internal level, socioeconomic concerns topped other issues in LCP's platform. The LCP failed, however, to pressure for a more secular system.

After 1990, most secular parties such as the LCP and the SSNP joined efforts, despite their ideological differences, to oppose the American foreign policy. Therefore, their priorities became more regional while internal issues such as freedom of expression ranked second in these parties' rhetoric.

Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's movement, the Future Youth Organization (FYO), gained momentum when Hariri was first selected to head the Lebanese government in 1992. The organization gives priority to the economy of the market rather than to socioeconomic affairs.

The effects of such a policy were obvious in the current economic crisis. The crisis came after the government tried to strengthen the banking and tourism sectors at the expense of the agriculture and industrial sectors.

Hariri's activity prompted the creation of an opposition movement, the People's Movement, headed by former Beirut MP Najah Wakim.

The movement holds Hariri responsible for the Lebanese economic crisis and thus its priority is focused on fighting Hariri's economic and political policies.

It also believes that sectarianism is another cause of the crisis in the country and that there would never be a solution for Lebanon until it gets rid of sectarianism.

The above-mentioned priorities makes it hard for these movements to merge their interests and join efforts against or in support of a single issue. Whenever any two of these factions fail to agree on their "first priority," they would turn to become total enemies accusing each other of national betrayal.

However, a noticeably different political rhetoric came to the fore with some democratic and leftist movements.

This rhetoric defied the logic of priorities and considered that "the struggle" should be fought on three levels namely the political, the economic and the social.

These groups marry global issues with the Lebanese internal ones. They take a humanistic approach when dealing with both global and regional issues.

These leftist groups face several challenges, however, for they are still a new trend whose efforts need time to yield results. These grass-root organizations also need to tackle the problems of the prevailing political practices. They also require continuous constructive self-criticism.

Hussein Salloum is an Electrical Engineer and an activist among various leftist groups. He wrote this commentary for Alternative