Lebanese Option Party

Lebanese Option Party
حزب الإنتماء اللبناني
LeaderAhmed Kamel Asaad
Founded2007 (Movement)
2010 (Party)
HeadquartersBeirut, Lebanon
IdeologySecularism
Moderate Shia Islamism
Liberalism
Economic liberalism
Political positionCentre to centre-right
ReligionShia Islam
National affiliationMarch 14 Alliance
Website
www.lebaneseoption.org

Lebanese Option Party (Arabic: حزب الإنتماء اللبناني) is a Lebanese secular and an economically liberal party, which is also a predominantly Shia political movement established in 2007.[1] It is headed by Ahmad Kamel Asaad, the son of the former speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Kamel El-Assaad and the grandson of the former speaker of the Parliament Ahmad El-Assaad.

Lebanese Option strongly protests the political hegemony of the two movements Hezbollah and Amal Movement on the Shi'ite community in Lebanon.[2] Its platform is more in line with the Lebanese majority March 14 Alliance and greatly opposed to mainstream Shi'ite movements allied with the March 8 Alliance, namely Hezbollah and Amal Movement. But the Lebanese Option is not an official part of the March 14 Alliance and keeps an independent secular status.

In early June 2013, a Lebanese Option activist, and head of the party's student wing Hashem Salman was shot dead[3][4] during a protest outside the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. The protest, organized by the LOP, criticized Hezbollah's involvement in the Syrian Civil War.[5] In mid-October 2013, its leader, Ahmad El-Assaad, called for Lebanon to cut ties with Bashar al-Assad's government and the expulsion of its ambassador.[6]

References

  1. ^ Lebanese Shiite Political Party Statement on Hezbollah (from The Daily Star
  2. ^ YaLibnan article: Ahmad El-Assaad: An alternative to Hezbollah in Lebanon Archived 2009-11-27 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ قتيل و11 جريحا باشكال بين مناصري أحمد الأسعد وحزب الله قرب السفارة الإيرانية (in Arabic). Naharnet. 9 June 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  4. ^ Fahd Al Zayabi Lebanon’s Shi’ites divided over Hezbollah’s role in Syria Asharq Alawsat 15 June 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013
  5. ^ Karam, Zeina; Yasmin Saker (June 9, 2013). "Anti-Hezbollah protester killed in Lebanon rally against militants' role in Syria civil war". Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  6. ^ http://www.yalibnan.com/2013/10/16/assaad-calls-for-cutting-ties-with-the-syrian-regime/[permanent dead link]

External links