The upcoming 2013 parliamentary elections are shaping up to be a confrontation, yet again, between a camp that's supportive of the Syrian regime, consisting of Hezbollah, Christian leader Michael Aoun and pro-Syrian groups, versus the March 14 camp, which supports Syrian protestors and calls for Lebanon's sovereignty and independence.
Born from the flurry of protests that engulfed the country following the death of late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, the March 14 Alliance celebrated its seventh anniversary this week. Contrary to previous years, politicians chose to take the back seat this year and give civil society leaders the platform to preach values March 14 officials have been supporting for years.
Lebanon this week voted against suspending Syria from the Arab League, exacerbating divisions between the Hezbollah-led cabinet and the March 14 alliance, and putting Prime Minister Mikati in a tight spot.
The Wikileaks debacle is still unraveling in Lebanon, exposing a level of hypocrisy among many Lebanese politicians and forcing many to do damage control with their own political allies. The latest cables revealed Speaker of the House Nabih Berri's considerable animosity towards Hezbollah.
"The people want to bring down the arms," hundreds of thousands of Lebanese chanted during a mass rally last Sunday in Downtown Beirut, calling for the disarmament of Shia militant group Hezbollah.
Six years after it was first launched and three days before a big rally on the anniversary of the Cedar Revolution, the March 14 coalition released a new political manifesto, recommitting itself to bringing Hezbollah's arms under state authority.
