| Free Patriotic Movement التيار الوطني الحر |
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|---|---|
| Leader | Michel Aoun |
| Founded | Founded in 2003, officially declared in 2005 |
| Headquarters | Rabieh — Beirut, Lebanon |
| Youth wing | FPM Youth and Students Commitee |
| Ideology | Centrism |
| Political position | Centre |
| Religion | Secular |
| Parliament of Lebanon |
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| Cabinet of Lebanon |
7 / 30
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| Website | |
| http://www.tayyar.org | |
| Politics of Lebanon Political parties Elections |
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The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) (Arabic: التيار الوطني الحر, Al-Tayyar Al-Watani Al-Hur), also known as the "Aounist Movement" (Arabic: التيار العوني, Tayyar Al-Aouni), is a Lebanese political party, led by Michel Aoun and allied with Hezbollah, The movement was officially declared a political party on September 18, 2005
Though most of the party's support comes from Lebanon's Christian community, it also enjoys minor support from some Shia Muslims. The FPM party advocates secularism and the right to vote for Lebanese abroad. It is one of the allies of Hezbollah.
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For many years, while Aoun was exiled in Paris, he led the FPM from abroad. He returned to Lebanon on May 7, 2005 after the Cedar Revolution forced the withdrawal of the Syrian forces, and then contested the legislative elections held in late May in early June although it placed him on the head of the largest Christian group of deputies.
Aoun also contested the Cedar Revolution which itself gave him the opportunity to come back to Lebanon.
At the time of the 2005 elections, the FPM came up with a detailed political program which contained economic and political reform plans and gained the support of many Lebanese Christians.
The FPM won 21 seats in the parliament, and formed the second biggest bloc in the Lebanese Parliament.
In 2006, the FPM signed a memorandum of understanding with Hezbollah organizing their relation and discussing Hezbollah's disarmament, given some conditions. The second and third conditions for disarmament were the return of Lebanese prisoners from Israeli jails and the elaboration of a defense strategy to protect Lebanon from the Israeli threat. The agreement also discussed the importance of having normal diplomatic relations with Syria and the request for information about the Lebanese political prisoners in Syria and the return of all political prisoners and diaspora in Israel.
On December 1, 2006,[1] Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun declared to a crowd of protesters that the current government of Lebanon was unconstitutional, claiming that the government had "made corruption a daily affair" and called for the resignation on the government.[2] Hundred of thousands of supporters of this party, Amal Movement, and Hezbollah, according to the Internal Security Forces (ISF), gathered at Downtown Beirut trying to force Fouad Siniora to abdicate.
On July 11, 2008, FPM members, Issam Abu Jamra as Deputy-Prime Minister, Gebran Bassil as Minister of Telecommunications, and Mario Aoun as Minister of Social Affairs were elected into government. It is the Movement's first participation in any Lebanese Government.
Despite the strong media and political war against the Free Patriotic Movement, the results of the 2009 Elections granted the FPM 27 parliamentary seats. These results showed dis-improvement within the Christian votes, but despite this the FPM's bloc is the second largest in the Lebanese parliament. Based on statistics,FPM has lost about 25% of his popularity within the Christian vote in order to spread throughout the country at various ethnic groups of the Lebanese people . He know only represents around 53% of Christians. The FPM gained 7 more seats then the 2005 elections, earning at least triple the number of deputies of any other Christian-based bloc in the parliament due to geographical distribution. The total seats won were 57 out of 128, which led to a defeat for the FPM.
In November 2009, the Free Patriotic Movement nominated five ministers to join the first government headed by Saad Hariri. The five ministers included:
The Free Patriotic Movement launched its own broadcasting channel (OTV) on the 20th of July 2007, and their own radio station called Sawt Al Mada (voice of scope in English) on June 1, 2009.
In June 2011, the Change and Reform bloc led by Aoun nominated eleven ministers to join the second government headed by Najib Mikati, gaining more than double the share they had in the former government The eleven ministers are:
Ministers with Portfolios:
Ministers without Portfolios:
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