Lebanese Option Party Explained

Colorcode:
  1. 009F3C
Lebanese Option Party
Native Name:حزب الإنتماء اللبناني
Leader:Ahmed Kamel Asaad
Foundation:2007 (Movement)
2010 (Party)
Ideology:Secularism
Liberalism
Economic liberalism
Position:Centre to centre-right
National:March 14 Alliance
Religion:Shia Islam
Country:Lebanon
Headquarters:Beirut, Lebanon
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]

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.cedarsrevolution.net/jtphp/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=857&Itemid=30 Lebanese Shiite Political Party Statement on Hezbollah (from The Daily Star
  2. http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2008/02/ahmad_elassaad.php YaLibnan article: Ahmad El-Assaad: An alternative to Hezbollah in Lebanon
  3. News: ar:قتيل و11 جريحا باشكال بين مناصري أحمد الأسعد وحزب الله قرب السفارة الإيرانية. http://www.naharnet.com/stories/ar/86209. Naharnet. 9 June 2013. 14 July 2013. ar.
  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. News: Karam. Zeina. Zeina Karam . Anti-Hezbollah protester killed in Lebanon rally against militants' role in Syria civil war. https://web.archive.org/web/20181205003431/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/anti-hezbollah-protester-killed-in-lebanon-rally-outside-iranian-embassy/2013/06/09/6a469d28-d0fc-11e2-9577-df9f1c3348f5_story.html. dead. December 5, 2018. 9 June 2013. Washington Post. June 9, 2013. Yasmin Saker.
  6. http://www.yalibnan.com/2013/10/16/assaad-calls-for-cutting-ties-with-the-syrian-regime/{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}