March 8 Alliance
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The March 8 Alliance is a coalition of various political parties in Lebanon. The alliance forms the opposition against the government of the March 14 Alliance. The alliance is considered to be pro-Syrian.
The name dates back to March 8, 2005 when different parties called for a mass demonstration in downtown Beirut in response to the Cedar Revolution. The demonstration thanked Syria for helping stop the Lebanese Civil War and the aid in stabilizing Lebanon and supporting the Lebanese resistance to the Israeli occupation. Main parties were Hezbollah, Amal Movement, Marada Movement, Lebanese Communist Party and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.
On February 6, 2006, the Free Patriotic Movement which was a part of the March 14 Alliance, and was part of the Cedar Revolution's mass demonstration on the 14th of march,2005 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hezbollah and thus was considered by the March 14 Alliance as part of the March 8 Alliance, something that the Free Patriotic Movement refuses and insists that they are an independent political movement that instigated the original 14 March movement in 1989 and currently disagrees of the practices of the March 14 Alliance. In March and April 2008 Michel Murr and his bloc quited the March 8 Alliance and the Change and Reform Bloc of Michel Aoun.[1]
The current alliance holds 57/127 seats in the parliament and consists of:
| Party | Number of Representatives in the Parliament | Demographic Base |
|---|---|---|
| Amal Movement (Harakat Amal) | 15 | Shi'a Muslim |
| Free Patriotic Movement (Tayyar Al-Watani Al-Horr) | 15 | Secular with large constituency in the Maronite Christian community |
| Hezbollah | 14 | Shi'a Muslim |
| Skaff Bloc | 4 | |
| Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Tashnag) | 2 | Armenian Christians |
| Syrian Social Nationalist Party (al-Hizb al-Suri al-Quami al-Ijtima'i) | 2 | Secular |
Independents:
|
2 | The first is Shi'a Muslim and the second is Alawite who defected from March 14 Alliance |
| Ba'ath Arab Socialist Party | 1 | Secular with large constituency in the Alawite Muslim community |
| Popular Nasserite Organization | 1 | Secular with large constituency in the Sunni Muslim community |
| Kataeb Party opposition | 1 | Maronite Christian |
| Tawhid Party | 0 | Druze |
| Lebanese Democratic Party | 0 | Druze |
| Lebanese Communist Party | 0 | Secular |
| Nasserite Unification movement | 0 | Sunni Muslim |
| Solidarity Party (Hizb Al-Tadamoun) | 0 | Christian |
| El Marada | 0 | Maronite Christian |
| Arab Democratic Party | 0 | Alawite Muslims |
| Promise Party | 0 | Officially secular, mainly Maronite Christian |
| Union party | 0 | Sunni muslim |
| Islamic unification movement | 0 | Sunni muslim |
| National Dialogue Party | 0 | Sunni muslim |
| Islamic Group | 0 | Sunni Muslim |
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