Naharnet: Aoun’s Call for Demonstration Paving Way for 2013 Electoral Battle

by Naharnet Newsdesk 28 January 2012, 08:08

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun’s “unprecedented” attack against the political class may be early signs of his preparations for the 2013 parliamentary elections battle, reported al-Liwaa newspaper on Saturday.
Informed political sources told the newspaper: “He is seeking to fortify his position in Lebanon seeing as he has started to detect that he has lost supporters in favor of his political adversaries.”
They added that the “victims” of the MP’s call for demonstration will be President Michel Suleiman’s efforts to resume the national dialogue and the government’s efforts in reaching an agreement on various appointments and the state budget.
The sources did not rule out the possibility that Aoun’s demonstration may take on the characteristics of the March 8 sit-in in Downtown Beirut that lasted from 2006 until 2008.
The March 8 camp launched the sit-in in December 2006 in an effort to topple former Premier Fouad Saniora’s government, crippling Downtown Beirut in the process and further raising political tensions between the rival March 8 and 14 camps.
The sources added however that Aoun’s true purposes for the demonstration remain unknown, wondering whether he is seeking to achieve immediate or future gains.
They speculated that he may be aiming to topple Prime Minister Najib Miqati at a time when the latter is preparing to travel to France on February 9.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon may also be the FPM leader’s target seeing as the time for the renewal of its cooperation protocol with Lebanon is nearing.
In addition, they did not rule out the possibility that Aoun may be seeking to create instability in Lebanon in order to lift the pressure off Syria, which has come under international scrutiny over the ruling regime’s ongoing violent crackdown against protesters.
Aoun on Friday launched a vehement attack against the entire political class in Lebanon, accusing it of “conspiring” against the ministers of the Change and Reform bloc.
“I accuse the entire (political) system of conspiring against us and this intimidation will not scare us. We accuse everyone and let those accusing us demonstrate their evidences. We have the documents to prove that they are thieves,” he said at a meeting with FPM coordinators in Sin el-Fil.
The MP therefore called on his supporters to “choose the mobilization method and be ready to stage demonstrations to tell the ‘state-joint-stock company’ that its era is over, and we will only meet them in court.”