New leftist movement promises real left, drafts constitution by end of March

March/April 2004

The developing “Movement for a Democratic Left” (MDL) continued its push into the Lebanese political scene. A statement was issued and several meetings of affiliated assemblies were held. The statement published in several newspapers demanding the resignation of the president, prime minister and parliament speaker in Lebanon, the end of the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence interference in politics, and a fight against political ‘mafias’ running the country. The statement stated its support for a democratic and peaceful opposition movement to fight against the current situation.

On another level, the meetings of the preparatory committee of MDL started circulating proposals submitted by the committee members aiming at creating a draft on the identity of the movement. The draft should be concluded by the end of March 2004. It will be later circulated to be discussed publicly and particularly among the members of MDL. The draft is supposed to be a condensed version of common grounds uniting the members; it will be the basis for the later development of four documents on identity, political stands, internal organization, and platform. After the conclusion of the draft and the ensuing discussions, a call for a general assembly will be made to elect the founding committee. The latter will be charged with the task of organizing the first convention that will decide on the final version to be adopted of the four documents.