Franjieh Does Not Rule Out Electoral Alliance with LF

Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh has announced that he does not rule out an alliance with the Lebanese Forces in the North district in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

“All options are on the table. We do not rule out any possibility but we want to study all these possibilities before taking the appropriate decision,” Franjieh told al-Mustaqbal newspaper in remarks published Sunday when asked about a possible electoral alliance in light of the repeated LF visits to Bnashii.

Under the new electoral law that is based on proportional representation, Franjieh's Zgharta stronghold was joined with the mainly Christian districts of Bsharri, Koura and Batroun where the LF has a strong presence.

Franjieh had been historically at odds with the LF in connection with the 1978 Ehden massacre in which his father Tony was killed along with other family members and several other people. Marada accuses the LF of carrying out the deadly attack.