Leftists hold series of meetings in an attempt to create a new party

BEIRUT - Alternative Staff

February 2004

On the 16th of January, a first meeting for the establishment of a new leftist party was held at the Cultural Council for South Lebanon. Present were representatives of leftist student groups and some former senior members of the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP).

The new party is an endeavor of what use to be known as ‘‘the forces of reform and democracy’’ a former faction of the LCP opposed to the policies of the official party leadership.

Gathered around Elias Atallah a prominent communist figure especially during the civil war, this faction is known for its opposition to the Syrian hegemony over Lebanon and to what it calls the ‘‘undemocratic and conservative practices of the party’s leadership’’ as one of its members who chose to remain anonymous puts it.

The new party will mainly focus on filling a gap in the Lebanese political spectrum. ‘‘It is an alternative framework to the traditional parties. It will be fully democratic and non-pyramidal in its structure’’ said Marc Daou, a member of No Frontiers, a leftist student group in the American University of Beirut . ‘‘The party will be a federation of leftist groups each operating within its own arena such as universities or syndicates’’ continues Daou who also stressed on the participatory aspect of the new movement.

‘‘This new movement intends to build on the lessons taken from previous unsuccessful experiences such as the Movement of the Commoners or Al Minbar al Dimocrati. It also aims at assessing the mistakes of the left as a whole during the civil war.’’ said Abed Z, an engineer who attended the meeting on a personal basis.

Retaining some of the long-established leftist principals such as internationalism and adopting new ones such as some position from ethnic and other marginalized minorities, the movement aims at an always evolving ideological identity. An expelled member from the LCP who refused to mention his name said that ‘‘adapting the leftist ideology to the modern times is needed especially that most Arab communist parties are now as totalitarian and undemocratic as ever.’’

The challenge for the new movement remains however not to fall in elitism especially because of the high profile of some of its members. ‘‘The movement is mainly an alternative one whose main motor are students and young professionals. It is aimed at renewing the leftist political speech in the country rather than falling in the same old dilemmas from before the war’’ said a young student who ruled out the possibility of the movement falling in the personal agenda of its old members.

By the time this publication went to print, sharp division preceded the third meeting. While supporters of some independent groups said that these groups should cease to exist and should give place to the newly established party, other leftist activists said that maintaining the existence of these groups were imperative, at least to keep activism at high levels.

The debate was far from being resolved. The different debating factions, however, already circulated drafts of what they called “their vision and perception of the constitution, the identity and the bylaws of the new party.”

The series of meeting and the plan to establish a new leftist groups is at least the second or third leftist attempt to organize the rank and file of the leftists in Lebanon who have been dispersed after many of them lost their membership or were expelled from the LCP. These leftists accuse the LCP of monopolizing the decision-making process among the leftist in the country.