Lebanese Communist Party
by Khaled Hidada

This conference is being held and we, the Lebanese, are
living the big joy of the big victory, which our people and
their resistance have achieved through imposing on the
Israeli occupation the withdrawals decision from the
occupied Lebanese territory. It's a victory, which will
leave its fingerprints not on the Lebanese situation only,
but on the Arab situation in general. Probably the first
finger print is the comparison, which the Arab intellectual
and politicians have started about the most effective way
in the liberation process. And of course this will not be
the only effect.
Entering into our principal subject of this case is not
just from our pride as a party on this victory, since we
are the party which launched the Lebanese national
resistance against the Israeli occupation, and the party
which the other left wings have achieved the first
victories where the biggest part of the occupied territory
was liberated in the period when the party and the left
wings had the effective role in the process which is until
1989 it is the period which including the capital Beirut,
mount Lebanon, principal part of western bekaa and the
Lebanese south were liberated it is the period between 82
and 89 where the party's martyrs in resistance have mounted
to more than 300 there before, the entrance is not from the
pride of what I indicated above, but from what this subject
reflects about the action of political coalitions and their
effective role - positively or negatively. In the
struggling path which any party passes.
Allow are to put in front of this conflictive approach the
Lebanese communist Party was a member of the national
conference which fought popular battles for independence
and the general secretary the Marty farajallah el hello had
an effective role in leading this conference the
independence was achieved and the country was ruled by an
authority which was formulated by the feudal and political
addition with the Lebanese bourgeoisie growing up under the
French mandate where the party and the left stand out of
the state's legislative institutions and the executive ones
as well in spite of being on of the principal effective
forces in the popular and syndic frame in most of civil and
social institutions.
And the party with the progressive socialist party was the
founding nucleus of the Lebanese national movement which
led the struggle of our people during the democratic
national awaking period in the late 60s and early 70s and
continued in the name role and in the frame of the same
national movement when the Lebanese civil war exploded
which was imposed on our party and people by the fionist
recessive project. With the other allied parties in the
frame of Lebanese national movement and allying with the
Palestinian revolution then and Syria, the party confronted
the Israeli invasion.
And the party continued its struggle, the civil was ended
and the balances of regional and international forces
reformulated taef documents and reorganising the Lebanese
state. And the party staid out of the authority system
although this time these system were constituted of its
allied in the frame of previous Lebanese national movement
and in the frame of National Solution Front and other
institutions
And one more time, a party launched the national resistance
in the 16th August 82 organised its first operations and
developed it, and it was happy it included other political
forces and paid for sake of liberation hundreds of martyrs,
thousands of captives and tens of injured and handicapped.
A party, which under its effective leadership to the
resistance and allying with other left wing forces, the
capital Beirut was liberated and allying with PSP Mount
Lebanon, was liberated and also due to its role and the
role of its allies, a big part of the south and the western
Bekka were liberated.
The result as usual; the big victory is achieved and the
party has not even a small part of the general image of the
victory state.
One of you comrades, as would say what's wrong with our
Lebanese comrade, as if is describing a state of the city
and presenting its economic and democratic givens and then
asks about the age of its municipality head and the name of
the wife.
Allow me comrades to postpone showing the innocence from
this accusation until the end of the discussion about the
role of coalitions in our political struggle.
The Lebanese Communist Party since it was born in the early
years of French mandate on Lebanon and Syria was a part of
the national and popular movement in our country. It is the
movement, which held the struggling flag for sake of
independence as a primary task and for the sake of the
victory of freedom, democracy and social progress ideas,
It is this introduction, which tops the party's
constitution decided in its last eight conference and it is
a sentence repeated in all the decided programs in its
conferences. The first we conclude from this definition is
the range of authenticity of coalitions in our party's
struggle but as a constituting part of its central program
and the programs of its different institutions and sectors.
The importance of coalitions in our party's struggle is
viewed in starting from formulating our political program
and reaching to party organisation _______________.
Probably this exaggeration in fusing the party's struggle
with its allies struggle and fusion of the party's special
program with the program of the national movement in its
old and modern history, has held negative aspects as
positive ones and this needs a serious and a wide
discussion inside the party which the last two conference
of the party have shown serious and continuous beginnings
for such a discussion and to show the historical importance
which the party has given to alliances and their role in
formulating its program, it`ll brief some stages.
The second conference of the party, in its analysis to the
reality and characteristics of the development of
capitation in Lebanon, has put the task of general
democratic struggle to down with monetary tyranny and
establishing a democratic ruling giving way towards
transition to socialism and connecting the progress in this
way with the range of our success in uniting the components
of the social improvement for the case of change and the
political forces expressing it in an institutional frame
where the forces, parties and __________ interested in
change are held in it.
And in the third conference, the party distinguished
between the strategic tasks related to establish the
democratic national rule and the democratic reforms
reaching to this rule. And the party stressed on the
importance of statically coalition capable of doing that
change and especially coalescing with PSP and by this the
party would have put in its third conference the practical
and theoretical foundations of political reform program,
which the national movement formulated in 1975.
In the 4th conference, the party stressed that it is no
longer possible reuniting the ration and society unless by
doing a democratic change touching the structure of the
sectarian political system in order to establish on its
ruins a non-sectarian democratic national system (regime).
In this conference, the party started checking on some of
its alliatory actions which some of these actions which
some of these action led to the absence of its program for
political reform in accordance with the minimum level some
allies in the circumstances of the civil war which the 4th
conference report indicates that the ripeness of the
subjective circumstances for democratic change collides
with the action of some factors such as: the retardation of
the development level of some self forces for change,
sinking the popular struggles in the swamp of sectarian and
zonal divisions and some forces with the subjective
interest in democratic change are continuing betting on the
possibility of exciting the recent crisis by renewing the
sectarian settlement and enchancing its formulations and
balances.
And this analysis keeps on the 5th conference of the party
so that the party makes the subject of alliances a bases
for its analysis to misbalance which led to the Israeli
invasion in 1982 and a condition to overcome the results of
the invasion and the success of national resistance in the
liberation process and becoming a lever for internal
democratic change. And the party discusses in the strain
the alliances (conditions) on the international Arab levels
due to the connection of the conflict in Lebanon with
regional and international conflict.
And this politics which we indicated during the party's
conferences and struggling actions, was also ruling the
civil institutions which the communist either led on war
kit through them since their programs and alliances were
cloning to a far extend, the party's alliances and actions
even in the level of organised work in the party, the task
of political connections became with the course the
principal task which is referred either to the committee
head on his prime vice since it is the primary task in the
struggle and action of the party.

Comrades,

That was in the past, what about the present and future
horizons?
The last year had understressed big developments which were
defined as an earthquake on the international level and in
conjunction with a claim of a big development on the zonal
level (middle east) and basically on the level of the
Arab-Israeli struggle.
These changes were characterised on the international level
by imbalacing the international equilibrium and the end of
cold war stage in the direction of founding the unipolar
control over the world which it has dangerous effects in
the international relations characterised essentially by
downsizing the role of the international institutions which
resulted from the cold war stage and especially the role of
the united nations and its institutions which became
gradually something similar to one of the departments of
the us foreign ministry, executing and military offensive
involvement in many areas of the world.
-war against Yugoslavia
-First and second gulf wars
-Political and economic sanctions against many countries
and people, such as Libya, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Cuba and
-Tragic changes and developments in African countries.
What concerns us in Lebanon in the transportation of the
united nations role into just a �witness who witnessed
nothing�.
Where Israel violates the 425 resolution takes Lebanese
territories and tries to vacuum the content of the big
victory which our people ached under the coverage and
blessing of United Nations delegate and the Security
Council in spite of the ineffective objection until no of
France and Russia and this what threatens in returning the
situation in Lebanon back to before the Israeli with drawl
where out people its resistance and the Lebanese government
won't agree with the biased arbitration of the United
Nations regarding what was refused to be given during the
Israeli was.
Of course in the heart of those changes and developments
are those monetary and economic developments which rule the
globalisation age which can be named as �The Dictatorship
of the market and globalisation on all the biggest
universal village where the capital of some universal
companies control of fate of humanity.
What characterises this stage mostly is: Unemployed which
touches not only the 3rd world countries and especially the
European Countries and also it touches classes which were
never touched before such as engineering and even some
professions that were accounted for the monetary sector as
banks and insurance companies.
There developments are not imposed as some might say by
�The market instruments� only, but also countries
contribute and especially the United States. These
countries, which facilitate the political wills for
granting the capital, offer huge taxation waivers to
support the infrastructure, which offers free support for
the international capital on the account of poorer classes.
Also throng eliminating some legislation, which were making
some earnings workers and middle class.
There is no use in trying to show us of the world became
similes since it transformed into a unified village because
the greatest part it the world is sinking in the tragedies
of poverty and hunger and its environment is destroyed for
the sake of increasing the fortune of the globalised
capital and the representative role of the local
authorities is increasing especially in the 3rd world
countries where the World Bank imposes in them catching up
with globalisation as the more savaged liberalism corrected
it.
And this of course leads to the destruction of social
stability, which threatens the security, and political
stability in most of the countries.
All this has direct effects on the alliances issue which
was always a strategic axis in the action and activity of
the forces of progress, changes and democracy. Alliances on
all international, local and regional levels.
And this means as a primary conclusion that a new analysis
must be done in order to re-establish our view of the
coalition alliance issue in the light of the new
developments due to its deep effects and in new and
characterised forms in the position and the role of several
social classes in the political economic and social ranges.
An we see that this new and special effect will touch in as
very new distinctive form countries that were not named
third world countries. In our opinion the reason is that
the new big changes which we have indicated at
(globalisation - international relations) have radically
changed the nature of the follow relations imposed on those
countries.
As described here in above, we are not more inclined (in
theoretical and political regards) to consider those follow
relations, in their new nature, the element or decisive
factor in the development of those countries in the next
stage on all levels: political, economic and social.
And this situation was studied until now deeply, and
universally and that's why progress forces including our
party didn't have the chance to determine the tangible
process for the development of their countries. Not even to
determine in as special form the general tendency that the
different forces and social classes will follow under their
new situation and in the light of their interests which
either crystatise or hurt due to this line of development.
It's sufficient now to indicate that many factors intermix
in determining the positions of these classes and forces.
-Cultural factors
-Religions factors
-Factors that result from ethics diversities and components
and their contradictions.
-Factors.
-Ambitions and diverse developments programs and the
conflicts about them and their resultants
-Ambitions and diverse programs to build as state and the
conflicts about them and the resultants of these conflicts.
And other special factors for each country or group of
countries.
Although this study is still in its embrgotic stages, it is
possible to indicate to some directions which the alliances
coalitions in their new form should take. On the
international level and due to the universality of damages
from the new economic policy in international level:
Joblessness, striking the earnings, hunger, wars,
destruction of environment, etc it becomes insisting
remarking features of �new� characterised by democratic
relations inside of it and founded for general
confrontation considering the special situations for
peoples, zones and countries in order to confront the
social environmental and political factors of the new
international situation. In this new coalition alliance,
the communist parties must form me of its essential members
ad must include representatives of new social classes
joining the poor cases in paying the prices of the new
international economic mode. And this new view of
coalitions alliances respects the regional characteristics
so that it encourages the special coalitions alliances on
the regional level and its frame must be moving and
flexible in order to confront the fast movement of the
globalised capital projects.
On the Arab level and due to the international development
to which we indicated and especially in light of the
special regional developments resulting from the first and
crystatizing from the outcomes of the Gulf War and the
American - Israeli pressure to benefit from this
international situation in order to profound an Israeli
control supported American ally not only in the political
and economic levels especially throng marketing the
regional establishing of the globalised capital via the new
�Middle East market� project which plans to les Israel be
(political economically and military) in the position of
decision and principal control in it.
And in this frame, our party for many years ideas for
building alliances and relations among the forces of
progress and change in the Arab World and suggesting
discussions among them and among all the social forces
harmed from the new American - Israel way in the area on
the level of each country and on the level of all Arab
countries. These ideas are based on the necessity of:
First: Developing the frame of to become a frame which
includes the alternative Arab project for the Israeli _
American one, which organises and founds the developing,
social and economic integration frames, reaching the
political integration among Arab countries.
Second: In connection with the first idea, starting the
struggle to form common Arab market.
Third: Strengthening the civil society and supporting the
Arab national feelings through educational and media
institutions.
Fourth: Keeping the public freedoms and fixing a democratic
Inside every Arab country and in the relation among Arab
countries.
Fifth: finding sprouts co-operation frames among vocational
and workers syndicates in the Arab countries reading to
imposing the syndical organisation freedom for the working
class end for all the social and vocational classes in the
Arab World.
Sixth: finding the political frames which organise the
continuation of the political, cultural and economic
conflict with Israel ad on alternative for the surrendering
process which most of the Arab governments are using and
this process is in the frame of the American project for
the Area. And keeping the resistance spirit in Arab people
in dealing with the reality of the in balanced equilibrium
of forces on both regional and international levels.
Seventh: Finding diverse and flexible frames for the
relation between the parties and Arab forces.
On the Lebanese level. I'll allow myself to return to the
first approach. The complexity, which hasn't been, solved
yet then the issue of fructifying the party struggle during
successive periods in the moments of the important
transformation. And here it'll overpass factors which it
consider, and the party as we;;, fundamental such as the
big universal earthquake, equilibrium of forces in the
world and he recent Arab condition.
All of them are true factors in their big effects in the
internal Lebanese situation, and it'll try to look for some
reason in how to formulate and to our alliance (condition)
plan since the condition of giving up the party and
preventing it from fructifying its struggles was always
done under the cover or clear co-operation of allies and
especially the closet of them.
It's better for us to show the holes during the victory
moments, rather than fragment because of them during the
defeat moments. A chain of negatives and mistakes in the
course of our allied practice is now and was during the 8th
conference of the party and before a serious discussion
issue among the communists and between them and other
forces:
First: the party always connected between its program and
this program priority and its coalitions, and always tried
to put levels in the coalition process, but in most of the
cases priorities were the dominant and that was true to a
big extent, but to eliminate the remaining articles in the
program meant that the party's distinction compared to
other programs no longer exists. And here we'll give two
examples:
A - Our theatrical consciousness regarding the distinction
necessities from the positions of the Palestinian
revolution and Syria in Lebanon in dealing with the
Lebanese and especially the issue of sovereignty and the
independence of decision was disappearing in practice
reasoned by the dominance of the burden of confronting the
Israeli project.
B - The burden of confronting the Israeli project which
inside has founded the bases for the alliance among us and
among some sectarian forces and that was true also. But our
party-line and practices over passed showing our
distinctive positions from these forces in putting the
issue of political reform and confronting the economic and
social burdens which make this distinction lose it's real
content.
Second: the mode which dominate our relations with the
Lebanese parties and especially after the collapse of
Lebanese national movement as an organisational formula and
the deepening of sectarian divisions on the account of
other divisions during the civil war made our alliance with
sects parties enlisting us as a part of the sects of the
parties.
And this had many negative, most importantly:
the view of the people of other sects to us as allies of
the competing sects and some times as parts of them and we
encouraged this view through some nomenclatures in which we
were not sufficiently distinctive from like parties and
national and Islamic forces and other nomenclatures.
Although we were distinctive from sects and their parties
in the sectarian parties, we became responsible for these
parties or some as being the silent witness or the shy of
his objections most of the times due to the confusion of
our priorities sometimes and showing the distinction points
in the sensitive stages.
The insufficient confrontation to some dominating theories
such as �national sects� and �non-national sects�. And this
is a reflection of the weakness of our ideological struggle
which contributed in the absolute dominance of the
secretarian ideologies in many stages.
Any gain achieved in this frame the sects give it to their
parties and have no interest in letting the others
participate in it whichever their role is big in achieving
this gain.
Third: what we suffered with the allies parties has been
repeated to a big extent in our relations with the
successive governments since the Taef treaty and until now
this has a relation also with the incapability of achieved
the equilibrium between the national side of the Lebanese
case represented by confronting the occupation and the
sides related to building the democratic state and the
economic and political reform: and this also what we
treated theoretically in the last conferences, but our
parties related to our previous consciousness and practices
of the alliances issues.
Fourth: the delay in deciding our stance from the Taef
agreement especially offer its transformation into a
constitution insuring the political sectarianism in the
country, deepening the sectarian divisions and hampering
the democratic development in Lebanon. This is the
decision, which was postponed until the 8th conference of
the party.
The party's 8th national conference discussed the
experiment and put serious foundation for it , determining
the sources of hardships in front of developing new
alliance formulas as the following:
1st source: the regional and local changes which
contributed in enlarging the already exiting split of the
democratic and national forces and the intentional
diminishing of the role of the communist party and leftist
forces generally.
2nd source: the intensiveness of the sectarian conflicts
after Taef and the developments of the capabilities of
sects on the account of the state institutions (from kinder
to university), health institutions and political (parties)
institutions.
3rd source: what the Arab consciousness has unstressed to
worsening and retreat inside Avery Arab country and on the
general Arab level.
4th source: The big earthquake which the international
situation has led to and which was a destructive factor for
the consciousness of millions of people.
And the 8th conference started to formulate its program in
the light of these challenges.
The challenges which Lebanon faces:
Israeli occupation
Regaining the independence and sovereignty on all of its
territories.
Rebuilding challenge and political reform.
Our Program:
Resisting the Israeli occupation and Liberating the
territory.
Enforcing the Arab loyalty of Lebanon.
Organising the relation with Syria in the frame of total
Lebanese Soveirnty.
Political reform:
*Civic democratic system.
Social and political reform:
Predetermining the role of the state.
Opening the issue of the managerial reform.
Diversity of economic structure
Social issue.
Educational, general culture and media.
Environment.
*Forces of change its mechanism:
Self difficulties in front of the democratic change
program which the party is putting.
-Weakness points in the structure of forces which are
ambitious to change and struggling for it (non sectarian
political parties - deputy committees - democratic and
political and currents).
- What increases the effects of difficulties is going far
into fabricating a severe contradiction between the
priority of confronting the occupation and national
challenges and the priority of offering convenient
treatments the internal political, economic and social
situations.
*In spite of this, noticing the increase and widening of
the weight of forces which are ambitions to change and
working on achieving it and it will work on developing the
popular and working on achieving it and it will work on
developing the popular movements objecting the fixed
policies and changing them to a democratic movement more
organised and co-operative in its slogans, policies and
activities in a way helping it in entering into a better
confronting situations in the face of sectarian forces and
into better equilibrium in facing the predominant alliance
of sectarian and bourgoises forces.
* Hard work building a pressing popular democratic current
for the sake achieving the proposed reforms on all levels.
The success in building this wide current and the
possibility of transforming it into a popular movement is
superiority organised and targeted.
* Creating a political frame where its features are
gradually shown and its political and social basis is
enforced as on ever attracting and expanding mass a direct
target (object) which doesn't contradict the syndical,
professional struggle.
*General alliance (coalition) policy in three
non-contradicting integrated circles:
-A circle, which includes the broad national forces.
-A circle, which includes the democratic forces.
-A circle, which includes the leftist forces.
Herein before and in the light of the big event represented
by the victory of our people and imposing drawl on the
occupying forces, we reasonably believe in putting some
questions:
First: Imposing the withdrawal although it will always be
first article of the program, which in confronting the
occupation, will overburden the other articles and
especially the issue of soveignity, democratic political
reform and confronting the economic and social problem, and
this will affect our relations with the different political
forces. And especially the relations with the forces of
religions ideological nature which will put on themselves
after their successful job in the resistance the tasks of
internal political actions and thus the mode of their
relations with people, issues and parties.
Second: The predominant sectarian nature of parties (except
our party and one or two more) makes us wonder if parties
in Lebanon are superior form of organisation or if there
are other cultural, environmental, syndical organisations (
)more sub, merged in the web of the Lebanese society and in
the Lebanese structure as a home and not as a sector a
group of sects. And this puts a review in the priority of
formulating our coalition relations.
Third: Building alliances (coalitions) can't be essentially
done only through discussion, talks but through common
struggle and movement. Until then the movement will stay
insufficient to move the people's and alliances wheel and
until when the speed of movement will stay insufficient to
increase the attraction
Thanks to all for helping our people, more captives are
still in the Israeli prisons, and the families of thousands
of martyrs are waiting for help.