❊ Single Issue Political Parties In Lebanon

In case you haven’t noticed, the anti sectarian revolution has transformed itself into the “New Order Movement”. It has announced a manifesto and it’s channeling its energies toward pressuring the political system into shedding its sectarian hue. This is a great development in my opinion.

The movement will be even more effective if it became a political party. Single issue parties (like the green party) may not be hugely successful in elections, but they force the mainstream players to adopt positions they wouldn’t adopt without their pressure. In highly competitive districts, voters of the green party can tip the balance from the Lebanese Forces to the Free Patriotic Movement (or vice versa). This puts pressure on both mainstream parties to make environmental campaign promises to win back those who vote on principle.

A similar dynamic can emerge if we create a single-issue anti-sectarian party. As Doreid Awdeh, the founder of the New Order Movement noted:

The movement re-imposed the abolishing of political sectarianism on the agenda of politicians

But why a single-issue party? Shouldn’t it be a mainstream party with a view on all issues to increase its chances of getting elected?

The problem is that secular Lebanese have always been associated with divisive political currents like Pan Arabism, Syrian nationalism, Communism, armed resistance, Anarchy. We have seen how this has caused tensions in previous anti-sectarian rallies between supporters of Hezbollah and supporters of March 14.

If a new party can focus purely on the abolishment of sectarianism (and — very importantly — promises to abstain from voting on other issues in parliament) it can be a bigger umbrella that embraces all the Lebanese of all political hues. It can become competitive in Jounieh and in Dahieh, a truly national party.

Single issue parties, especially in the age of facebook, can be a very disruptive force in Lebanese politics. Someone should seriously consider starting a “fast internet” party too..