By Wassim Mroueh

Saturday, February 05, 2011

BEIRUT: The March 14 coalition has yet to decide on how to mark the sixth anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Feb.14, and the movement’s founding gathering one month later, as preparations begin for both events.

Beirut MP Ammar Houri, who is a member of the March 14 General Secretariat, told The Daily Star that the coalition was still considering how to mark the dates.
“But there will certainly be a commemoration of both February 14 and March 14,” Houri said.

Charbel Eid, head of the Lebanese Forces (LF)’s Students League, told The Daily Star that the coalition would “most probably” hold a gathering for March 14 officials in Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure Center (BIEL) on Feb.14, and that an outdoor rally would take place on March 14 in Beirut’s Martyrs Square.
“A huge rally will take place on March 14; it is the day when the great revolution occurred, and in which Lebanese from different sects participated,” Eid said.

An official from BIEL told The Daily Star that the March 14 coalition had booked the facility for Feb.14.
Eid said that along with participating with all “its strength,” the LF would be involved in organizing both events.
Asked whether the LF would participate in the events if the party joined the government that Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati is seeking to form, Eid said the LF would not join Mikati’s Cabinet.

“Available information so far indicates that we will not participate in the Cabinet, but if we do, we will [continue to be] the March 14 coalition that holds its ceremonies. We will not wear the March 8 uniform that [Free Patriotic Movement leader MP] Michel Aoun wants us to wear,” Eid said.

Aoun said Tuesday that anyone willing to participate in Mikati’s Cabinet should “take off his uniform” and accept the new political line, in reference to the March 14 coalition.

In the previous five years, March 14 supporters have marked Hariri’s assassination by holding a mass rally at Martyrs Square in Beirut.

The movement takes its name from the gathering that took place on March 14, 2005, one month after Hariri’s slaying, when supporters of a wide range of parties filled downtown Beirut to demand a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, after Damascus was widely blamed for the assassination.

At the time, the Future Movement, the LF, the Kataeb (Phalange) party, the National Liberal Party and other groups were joined at the protest by the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) and the Free Patriotic Movement.

The FPM later distanced itself from other pro-sovereignty groups, while the PSP exited the March 14 coalition in August 2009.

A PSP source told The Daily Star the party were yet to decide whether to participate in the commemoration.
“It is still too early; when they decide on type of the commemoration, we will announce our position,” he said.
Last year, PSP supporters did not take part in the Feb. 14 rally, while PSP leader Walid Jumblatt visited Hariri’s grave in downtown Beirut.

A political source told The Daily Star that Future Movement officials in Tripoli are holding ongoing meetings to mobilize supporters to take part in the commemoration.
“But it is still unclear how the commemoration of Hariri will take place,” the source said.

The political source added that caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri, or Ahmad Hariri, Future Movement secretary-general, might visit Tripoli before Feb. 14 to mobilize supporters and encourage them to take part in the commemoration. “But nothing is final yet,” he said.

The source said that so far, there were no plans to mark Feb. 14 with specific gatherings or activities in Tripoli.
Meanwhile, Tripoli-based associations affiliated with Mikati are holding daily meetings in support of the prime minister-designate in the northern city.

Supporters of Mikati and fellow-Tripoli MP Mohammad Safadi, were considering holding a “Day of Joy” to celebrate the nomination of Mikati and to counter a “Day of Rage” that saw Future Movement supporters hold nationwide protests against the nomination on Jan. 25.

During President Michel Sleiman’s consultations with MPs at Baabda Palace last month, Mikati and Safadi broke with their March 14 allies and sided with the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition, nominating Mikati.

But the source said that calls for a “Day of Joy” have cooled down, and a high-profile visit by Mikati to Tripoli is not expected until after the prime minister-designate forms his government.
The source said that Future Movement supporters were still holding meetings in Tripoli to protest against Mikati’s appointment.