The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Lebanon Region, commonly known as the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in Lebanon ( ''Ḥizb al-Ba‘th al-‘Arabī al-Ishtirākī fī Lubnān'') and officially the Lebanon Regional Branch, is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. It is the regional branch of the Ba'ath Party (Syrian-dominated faction). The leadership has been disputed since 2015; however, Fayez Shukr was the party leader from 2006 to 2015, when he succeeded Sayf al-Din Ghazi, who succeeded Assem Qanso.

History

The Lebanese branch of the undivided Ba'ath Party was formed in 1949–1950. Assem Qanso is the longest-serving secretary (leader) of the Lebanese Ba'ath Party, first from 1971 to 1989 and again from 2000 to 2005. In 1953 it merged with Arab Socialist Party headed by Akram Hourani, and the current title was adopted. One of its secretaries general was Abdallah Al Amin, headquartered in Beirut.

Lebanese Civil War

During the start of the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

in 1975, the party had an armed militia, the Assad Battalion, of some 2,000 armed men. The party joined forces with Kamal Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party in organizing the Lebanese National Movement, seeking to abolish the confessional state. The Lebanese National Movement was later superseded by the Lebanese National Resistance Front, in which the party participated. The party organized resistance against Israeli forces in Lebanon. In July 1987, it took part in forming yet another front, the Unification and Liberation Front.

Post-war

In the 2009 parliamentary election, the party won two seats as part of the March 8 Alliance. The parliamentarians of the party were Assem Qanso and Qassem Hashem. The Lebanese Ba'ath Party is also militarily involved in the Syrian Civil War and has sent forces under its control to aid

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

's government against the Syrian opposition. One contingent, allegedly 400 fighters strong, took part in the Daraa offensive (June 2017). Its commander, Hussein Ali Rabiha from Nabatieh, was killed during this operation. Before the 2018 Lebanese general election, the Lebanese Ba'ath Party had suffered a split, with Regional Secretary Assem Qanso and Numan Shalq heading in different directions. Both factions had nominated candidates for the elections, but none was accepted into a list and were thus eliminated from the polls. Reportedly, the Syrian ambassador, Ali Abdul Karim, had lobbied against any list accepting Qanso's candidates, as his group is not recognized from Damascus. A Baathist politician, Kassem Hachem, was included in a list in South III as Amal candidate, but not on behalf of the party. Former Regional Secretary Fayez Shukr headed a list in Bekaa III. On 7 April 2019, the Lebanese Ba'ath Party and other parties staged pro-Syrian demonstrations in Beirut; this was the "first such show of its kind" since 2005. During the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, an Israeli airstrike was launched on the Lebanese Ba'ath Party headquarters in Ras el-Nabaa in Beirut which killed a Hezbollah spokesman, Mohammed Afif. Following the

fall of the Assad regime On 8 December 2024, the Assad regime collapsed during a 2024 Syrian opposition offensives, major offensive by Syrian opposition, opposition forces. The offensive was spearheaded by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported mainly by the Turk ...

, the party's headquarters in Halba were stormed by a mob of anti-Assad militants.

Party leaders

*Mahmoud Baydoun (1966–1969) *Magali Nasrawin (1969–1971) * Assem Qanso (1971–1989) * Abdallah Al Amin (1989–1993) *Abdallah Chahal (1993–1996) *Sayf al-Din Ghazi (1996–2000) * Assem Qanso (2000–2005) *Sayf al-Din Ghazi (2005–2006) *Fayez Shukr (2006–2015) *Abdul Mou'in Ghazi (2015–2016) *Suheil Qassar (2016) *Nu'man Shalaq (2016–2021) *Ali Hijazi (2021–present)

Legislative elections

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arab Socialist Baath Party - Lebanon Region 1953 establishments in Lebanon Arab nationalism in Lebanon Arab nationalist militant groups Ba'athist parties

Factions in the Lebanese Civil War Lebanese National Movement Lebanese National Resistance Front March 8 Alliance Nationalist parties in Lebanon Political parties established in 1953 Pro-Assad factions of the Syrian civil war Socialist parties in Lebanon Axis of Resistance