March 14 Leaders Vow to Remain Steadfast on Movement's 8th Anniversary
March 14 alliance leaders stressed Thursday that their opposition movement remained united despite attempts to target its cause to see Lebanon a free country, and pledged to go ahead with their “battle” for “permanent peace.”
The coalition was established with “a cause based on the nation and the spirit of the people,” Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel told An Nahar daily on the occasion of the alliance's 8th anniversary.
“Our dream came true,” he said, adding that the movement had made many “unimaginable” achievements.
“March 14 will remain to consolidate what it has achieved and reach its remaining objectives,” the former president told the newspaper.
Gemayel shrugged off differences between the different opposition factions as “minor.”
Al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora expressed similar remarks, saying the “March 14 intifada … was the result of the belief in Lebanon’s coexistence which the forces of hegemony and darkness won't be able to target.”
The coalition takes its name from the historic demonstration in downtown Beirut's Martyrs Square on March 14, 2005 that ultimately led to the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon in the aftermath of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination.
Several political and media figures were also killed or escaped assassination after Hariri's Feb. 2005 murder.
“Lebanon's second independence came after both Muslim and Christian (figures) were martyred,” Saniora, who is a former prime minister, told An Nahar.
“On this occasion we reiterate our promise to the innocent martyrs that Lebanon will remain independent and free despite all the attempts to undermine its members and kill its men and the ambition of its people,” he said.
The Lebanese Forces chief, Samir Geagea, also said on the 8th anniversary of March 14 that the movement “doesn't die” and “is a need for Lebanon” against the March 8 majority coalition that is led by Hizbullah.
“March 14 was in 2005 a spontaneous reaction to the Syrian security regime that led to the exit of the Syrian army from Lebanon,” he said.
But “March 14, 2013 is a national need which I dare to say that Lebanon will not exist without it,” Geagea stressed.
In response to criticism on “stormy” relations between its members on certain occasions, the LF chief said: “The Cedar tree remains steadfast despite all the storms, lightnings and heavy winter.”
“The forces of hell will not overtake the movement that was based on the blood of martyrs such as Hariri, Gebran Tueni, Pierre Gemayel, George Hawi, Samir Kassir, Antoine Ghanem, Walid Eido, Wissam Eid and Wissam al-Hassan,” he said.
Former MP Samir Franjieh, who was among several other officials that mobilized the people in the huge demonstration on March 14, 2005, invited the coalition's supporters “to wage their last battle to prevent Lebanon from sliding to war.”
“It is a battle for achieving permanent peace in Lebanon,” he told An Nahar.
Lawmaker Marwan Hamadeh echoed similar remarks on Wednesday when he told Future TV that March 14 is a “live ammunition for Lebanon.”
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