Aoun Announces Change and Reform Candidates in Beirut 1

Source: Al-Manar TV, 1-4-2009

While the March 14 bloc seemed to be always hesitant and perplexed over its alliances two months ahead of the forthcoming parliamentary elections, the national opposition launched its campaign and started the announcement of its electoral lists here and there...

On Wednesday, the March 14 bloc seemed to be always undecided.. Its so-called Secretariat General held its weekly meeting. However, and instead of announcing electoral lists, it decided to assail its potential competitors, mainly the head of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Michel Aoun, and accuse him of violating all "red lines." The head of the Future movement MP Saad Hariri was still undecided whether he would ally with the Islamic Jamaa or not. For his part, the head of the Democratic Gathering MP Walid Jumblatt was still regretting the fact that he has to exclude, for the first time, the deep-rooted Boustani family from the Chouf electoral list.

However, the situation was too much different in the opposition camp, given that Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah wasset to deliver a speech and announce the Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc's candidates all over Lebanon.

But even before Sayyed Nasrallah started his speech, the national opposition decided to launch the announcements' process. Indeed, the head of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Michel Aoun announced from his residence in Rabiyeh the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) electoral list in Beirut's first constituency.

The Change and Reform electoral list includes Deputy Prime Minister Issam Abu Jamra fort the Greek Orthodox seat, Nicolas Sahnawi for the Catholic seat, Massoud Ashkar for the Maronite seat, Krikor Kaloust for the Catholic Armenian Catholic seat and Freij Sabonjian for the Orthodox Armenian seat.

According to the General, the political program of the list would be the same as the Free Patriotic Movement's reform program. He called on all the opposition supporters to back the announced list in the upcoming elections. Aoun said that other electoral lists would be announced during the few coming days.

The list's announcement came a few hours after the Armenian Tashnag party announced officially that it has refused MP Saad Hariri's offer of four parliamentary seats in return for voting for March 14 alliance's full list of names in Beirut 1, the Metn and Zahle districts. "After studying this offer ... and during our second meeting with MP Hariri (last night), we informed him about the executive committee's decision to form an Armenian MPs bloc that will include five legislators" whose names were announced on Sunday, the party said in a statement.