The Helf Alliance or Tripartite Alliance (; ''Al-Hilf al-thulathi''), was a right-wing coalition formed in 1968 by the big three mainly

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

parties in Lebanon: The Pierre Gemayel's Kataeb, the National Liberal Party of former President Camille Chamoun, and National Bloc of Raymond Eddé. The

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

called for a Lebanese Nationalism as Regional and internal tensions rise, and as relations with

PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and s ...

spoils. It was also seen as a counter-force against the Arabist line incarnated during his mandate by President Fuad Chehab. The alliance well-performed in 1968 Parliamentary elections winning 30 seats in the 99 member National Assembly - the best result until 2005 elections for any organized electoral force in Lebanon's notoriously fractured legislature. In 1969, the National Bloc left the alliance over a disagreement about the Cairo Agreement. The Kataeb and the NLP, still close allies, went on to form the Lebanese Front in 1976 while expanding their Christian canton amidst the Lebanese Civil War.

Formation

The idea of the alliance came at a meeting on March 23, 1967 at the home of the secretary-general of the National Liberal Party, Kazem al-Khalil, and was officially announced on February 22, 1968 prior to the Lebanese parliamentary elections scheduled for the following March 24. It was agreed that, amongst the three parties, they hold responsibilities; which include: * The Kataeb Party, headed by Pierre Gemayel, chooses the alliance's candidates in the Beirut I electoral District. * The National Liberal Party (NLP) chooses the alliance's candidates in the

Chouf district Chouf (also spelled Shouf, Shuf or Chuf, in ''Jabal ash-Shouf''; french: La Montagne du Chouf) is a historic region of Lebanon, as well as an administrative district in the governorate (muhafazat) of Mount Lebanon. Geography Located south-east o ...

, headed by Camille Chamoun. * The National Bloc party chooses the alliance's candidates in the Byblos district, headed by

Raymond Edde Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...

References

Defunct political party alliances in Lebanon Lebanese nationalism {{Lebanon-party-stub Kataeb Party