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Lebanon: March 14 Official Says No Initiative to Revive Alliance | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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A young girl takes pictures of the memorial flame erected at the site of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, on the 11th anniversary of his death on February 14, 2016 in the capital Beirut. (ANWAR AMRO / AFP)


Lebanon: March 14 Official Says No Initiative to Revive Alliance

by | Aug 19, 2016 | Middle East |

Lebanon: March 14 Official Says No Initiative to Revive Alliance

Beirut-Despite a recent meeting between head of the Democratic Gathering deputy Walid Jumblat and high-ranking officials from the March 14 alliance, there is still no initiative to revive the group.

A dinner hosted by Jumblat in honor of former deputy Samir Franjieh and the Coordinator of the March 14 General Secretariat, ex-PM Fares Soaid, drove the attention of several observers, particularly that Jumblat spoke about the meeting when he deliberately published a photo in which three of them are appearing.

Jumblat had written: “To the phase of the battle of respect for the Constitution and the sovereignty and independence of Lebanon.”

Sources close to Jumblat said the Druze leader does not forget the comrades who supported him during the phase of struggle. The sources spoke about a friendship between Jumblat and former deputies Franjieh and Soaid due to their leading roles that started in 2,000 and continued after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the establishment of the March 14 alliance.

However, today several political forces inquire about the fate of the March 14 group and whether the current divisions between its members had let to its actual termination.

Franjieh told Asharq Al-Awsat the dinner hosted by Jumblat was “warm,” speaking about an old friendship that connects him with the Druze leader.

However, it seems the meeting did not reach any new formula that could revive the March 14 alliance. “The situation of the team is improper,” Franjieh asserted.

“There is nothing new at the level of reviving the team, but our meeting with Jumblat was only to congratulate him on National Unity Day in Mukhtara,” he added.