March 14 Alliance تحالف ١٤ آذار | |
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| Leader | Saad Hariri Walid Jumblatt Samir Geagea |
| General Secretary | Fares Souaid |
| Founded | 14 March 2005 |
| Dissolved | 2016 |
| Headquarters | Beirut |
| Ideology | Lebanese nationalism Anti-Assad regime |
| Political position | Big tent |
| Colors | Red, white |
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Subdivisions |
TheMarch 14 Alliance (Arabic:تحالف 14 آذار,romanized: taḥāluf 14 āḏār), named after the date of theCedar Revolution, was a coalition ofpolitical parties and independents inLebanon formed in 2005 that were united by their anti-Assad regime[1][2][3] stance and by their opposition to theMarch 8 Alliance. It was led bySaad Hariri,Walid Jumblatt andSamir Geagea, as well as other prominent figures.
The alliance was formed during public demonstrations which took place one month after theassassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister,Rafiq Hariri. This was known as theCedar Revolution. Two protests against Syria's 29-year occupation of Lebanon were staged because it was believed that Syria had supported the murder. The Alliance was given its name in honor of the day that Syrian forces left Lebanon, which is perceived as the major achievement of the Cedar Revolution.
The March 14 Alliance was made up of a range of sectarian and secular organizations that ordinarily have divergent political agendas. To pursue their shared interest in seeing Syrian forces leave Lebanon, the parties banded together.
TheFree Patriotic Movement of GeneralMichel Aoun left the informal grouping before the2005 general election, before March 14 was an established alliance, due to major disagreements and when its leaderMichel Aoun signed aMemorandum of Understanding withHezbollah.[4] After the 2005 elections, TheFree Patriotic Movement was the sole political opposition, but one year later joined the pro-Syrian governmentMarch 8 Alliance in November 2006.
On 12 July 2006, the2006 Lebanon War between Israel andHezbollah started when the later ambushed an Israeli army border patrol, killing three soldiers and capturing two others.[5][6] During the war, the March 14 coalition took a stance against Hezbollah accusing the armed party of causing the war on Lebanon. However, Hezbollah claimed that Israel preplanned such a war, supposed to be waged on September during the annual rally Hezbollah holds on the InternationalQods (Jerusalem) Day.
The March 14 coalition, amidst the war, urged Hezbollah to hand over their weapons, accusing the party of causing the war on Lebanon.
During the first few days of the war, former US Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice visited Beirut and held a meeting with the March 14 coalition and declared afterwards that a newMiddle East will be born after this war, saying: "It's time for a new Middle East." Rice andFouad Siniora met during her visit to Lebanon.[7][8]
In May 2008, the tensions between the pro-government and opposition parties escalated when the Cabinet announced a series of security decisions. Tensions began with revelations on Friday May 2 made byProgressive Socialist Party leaderWalid Jumblatt, a key politician in the ruling March 14 alliance. He announced that a remote-controlled camera had been set up in a container park overlookingBeirut international airport's runway 17, which was frequently being used by March 14 politicians.[9][10] In March 14 circles, fear was that the monitoring could be used for a possible attack on its leaders, as Lebanon had faced a series ofpolitical assassinations in recent times.[11] Although Jumblatt did not accuse the party directly, he made clear that he thought March 8's Hezbollah was behind the monitoring system's installment.[9] Hezbollah dismissed the accusations, calling the allegation a product of Jumblatt's imagination and saying that those who leveled them were scaremongering and simply parroting a US campaign against it and other groups which are resistingIsrael.[10][11] In addition to the monitoring system, Jumblatt stated that Hezbollah had laid down a fiber optic telecommunication network connecting its powerbase inDahiya in South Beirut with cities and towns in South and East Lebanon in predominantly Shiite areas.[10]
In its response to these allegations, the Lebanese Cabinet announced that it regarded the telecommunication network and the monitoring system as a breach of law, undermining the state's sovereignty and the security of its citizens.[9][12] Therefore, it declared that the matter would be referred not only to the Lebanese judicial system, but also to theArab League and theUnited Nations.[9][12]
Coincidentally, a day after the Cabinet's decision, on Wednesday May 7, the Lebanese General Workers Union had planned a general strike to demand higher wages and decry high consumer prices.[13] The strike turned violent as the opposition threw their weight behind the strike, paralyzing large parts of Lebanon's capitalBeirut.[13][14] Clashes later erupted throughout the country in the following weeks
On 8 June 2009, March 14 won the majority in the Lebanese parliament with 71 out of 128 seats.[15]
14 out of 26 electoral districts were won by March 14:[16]
In August 2009, theProgressive Socialist Party left the alliance, claiming political neutrality after the2008 Lebanon conflict, though they still supported lists of March 14 members, mostly theLebanese Forces.[17]
In 2016, the March 14 Alliance experienced an end to its activities, without an official announcement detailing the reasons for its closure.[18] In the2018 elections, Future Movement decided to make an electoral alliance with theFree Patriotic Movement inNorth III,Beirut I andBekaa I which caused a split between long time March 14 allies Future Movement and the Lebanese Forces. In October 2018,Saad Hariri promised to allocate theMinistry of Justice to the LF (Lebanese Forces)[19] however, he ultimately appointed the FPM (Free Patriotic Movement) to that ministerial position instead. In October 2020,Samir Geagea refused to name Hariri to form the government.[20]
After the2022 elections, the March 14 Alliance was replaced by the Lebanese Opposition[21] which was formed by theLebanese Forces,Progressive Socialist Party,Kataeb,Renewal Bloc and sovereign independent MPs like Mark Daou andWaddah Sadek.[22]
14march.org was the official March 14 alliance website. It went online on 9 March 2006[23] and was shut down by the Future Movement on 16 January 2019.[24]
The principal political claims of the March 14 Alliance were:
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