The People's Movement of Lebanon (PML, ''Harakat Al-Shaeb'', Arabic
acronym
An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...
HSB) is a democratic
leftist
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...
political party with no seats in the
Lebanese Parliament
The Lebanese Parliament (, ) is the unicameral national parliament of the Lebanon, Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in Electoral district, multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's divers ...
. The party's founder,
Najah Wakim
Najah Wakim (; born 1946 in Berbara, Byblos, Berbara) is a Lebanese politician who served as member of parliament from 1972 to 2000. He is the president of the People's Movement (Lebanon), People's Movement.
Biography
He managed to defeat Nasim ...
, won parliamentary representation in 1972, but boycotted elections in 2000 and failed to win afterward, leaving the party with no representation in government. The party was founded in 2000 and has recently elected a new leader,
Ibrahim al-Halabi
Burhān ad-Dīn Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ḥalabī (برهان الدين ٳبراهيم بن محمد بن ٳبراهيم الحلبى) was an Islamic jurist (''faqīh'') who was born around 1460 in Aleppo, and who died in 1549 ...
. It is a member of the
March 8 Alliance
The March 8 Alliance () is a loose coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon formed in 2005 that are united by their pro- Ba'athist Syria stance and their opposition to the former March 14 Alliance. It was the ruling coalition ...
governmentary coalition, and pushes democratic ideals while being popular with the younger, student generation, especially those at the
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...
. The People's Movement opposes the economic policies of
Rafik Hariri
Rafic Bahaa El Deen al-Hariri (; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese businessman and politician who served as prime minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 to 2004.
Hariri headed five cabinets during his tenu ...
and his Future Movement and adopts radical
alter-globalist
Alter-globalization (also known as alter-globo, alternative globalization or alter-mundialization—from the French alter- mondialisation) is a social movement whose proponents support global cooperation and interaction, but oppose what they desc ...
,
anti-American
Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment and Americanophobia) is a term that can describe several sentiments and po ...
and
anti-Israeli Anti-Israeli sentiment or simply anti-Israel may refer to:
* Anti-Zionism
* Criticism of Israel
** Anti-Israel lobby in the United States
See also
* Antisemitism
** New antisemitism
* Anti-Judaism
** Criticism of Judaism
Early criticism of ...
positions. The Movement is now part of the Lebanese opposition against the
March 14 Alliance
The March 14 Alliance (), named after the date of the Cedar Revolution, was a coalition of political party, political parties and independents in Lebanon formed in 2005 that were united by their anti-Ba'athist Syria, Assad stance and by their opp ...
and is allied to
Hezbollah
Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...
, the
Free Patriotic Movement
The Free Patriotic Movement (, ) is a Lebanese political party. Founded by Michel Aoun in 1994, the party is currently led by Aoun's son-in-law Gebran Bassil since 2015.
History Background
For many years, while Michel Aoun was and exiled i ...
, the
Syrian Social Nationalist Party
The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP; ) is a Syrian nationalist party operating in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. It advocates the establishment of a Greater Syrian nation state spanning the Fertile Crescent, including present-day Syria, Leb ...
, the
Lebanese Communist Party
The Lebanese Communist Party (LCP; , transliterated: ) is a communist party in Lebanon. It was founded in 1943 as a division of the Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party into the Syrian Communist Party and the Lebanese Communist Party, but the divi ...
, the
Marada Movement
The Marada Movement () is a Lebanese political party and a former militia active during the Lebanese Civil War named after the legendary Marada (also called Mardaites) warriors of the early Middle Ages that fought on the external edge of the Byza ...
and several other smaller parties. The party's main ideas deal with the reformation of the Lebanese political system and strengthened relations between Arab countries.
History
Najah Wakim and the Foundation of the Party
Najah Wakim is an Orthodox lawyer who was elected a member of parliament in 1972 at the age of twenty-six. He was a vocal critic of
Rafik Hariri
Rafic Bahaa El Deen al-Hariri (; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese businessman and politician who served as prime minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 to 2004.
Hariri headed five cabinets during his tenu ...
and strongly identified with the policies of
Gamal Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...
. Wakim himself strongly believes in secularism, and his party evolved to bolster a non-sectarian style of government, contrary to the current government in Lebanon. A group of pan-Arab leftists including Wakim established the People's Movement as a result of the growing dissatisfaction with the current Lebanese government and foreign affairs.
The We Want Accountability Campaign
The People's Movement is tied to a political campaign called the "We Want Accountability" campaign. This campaign evolved out of the
You Stink campaign in Lebanon, formed to fight the growing corruption in the government and the buildup of trash. The We Want Accountability campaign has recently carried out three protests. The first was in May 2016 outside the Central Inspection Department in Beirut. They protested corruption in the government and embezzlement of public governmental funds. The second rally was held in June 2016, protesting the privatization of Lebanon's last public beach in front of Beirut Municipality. The demonstration succeeded and the beach remains public to this day. The third and most recent protest occurred in September 2016. Protesters blocked the Grand Serail, rallying against political corruption.
Political stances
Ideology
The People's Movement fights for peaceful, national unity in Lebanon. They idealize a government without religious boundaries, and free of corruption. The Movement considers things like embezzlement and bribery to be a big problem and would like to take measures against such forms of corruption. It attacks privatization and sectarianism. They rely on the middle and working classes banding together to abolish the "old" political class, and place a lot of importance on political reform and highlight how other reforms will follow. A popular mantra written on fliers of the movement reads,"للفساد، للطائفية، للجهل", literally meaning, "no to corruption, no to sectarianism, no to ignorance". Their movement reflects that of other People's Movements around the world.
Domestic policy
The People's Movement garners much of its support from the younger generation, thus the policies they would like to implement reflect that. They include placing pressure on the government to help relieve unemployment in the younger generation, granting access to soft loans to entrepreneurs with government supervision, stopping the immigration of intelligent people (the
brain drain), and creating a planning ministry.
Foreign policy
The People's Movement is vehemently against relations with Israel and sympathizes with Palestine. It is against the call for peace with Zionists and fears Israel has its own agenda. The Movement focuses on peaceful relations with the Arabs and defense of the Palestinian cause, and they believe Israel solely wants to abolish Palestine. They refuse peace with Israel if Palestine is not granted its full respect as an independent country. They are also opposed to international interference in Lebanese politics, especially American interference.
References
{{Lebanese political parties
2000 establishments in Lebanon
Anti-Israeli sentiment in Lebanon
Anti-Zionism in Lebanon
Anti-Zionist political parties
Arab nationalism in Lebanon
Arab socialist political parties
March 8 Alliance
Nationalist parties in Lebanon
Political parties established in 2000
Political parties in Lebanon
Socialist parties in Lebanon