Take Back Parliament - Lebanon
Take Back Parliament 2013 - Lebanon 2013 إسترجعوا البرلمان | |
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| Founded | 2012 |
| Headquarters | Beirut, Lebanon |
| Ideology | Democracy, secularism, social justice, anti-feudalism, direct democracy |
| Colours | Purple, white and yellow |
| Website | |
| www | |
Take Back Parliament – Lebanon (Arabic: إسترجعوا البرلمان), (TBP – Lebanon) is a political movement launched by several Lebanese activists who met through various social organizations and civil initiatives. Social media has played a significant role in helping to expand the group. The grassroots campaign was created as an alternative to the gridlock between the two existing political alliances in Lebanon, the March 8 Alliance and March 14 Alliance. The group members crowd-sourced to build an electoral platform which is the ideal political agenda they would like to see candidates represent. The political agenda calls for a democratic secular nonsectarian government, bringing social justice awareness, and an eventual end to corruption.
Values
[edit]- Practice that reflects principles: TBP strives to reflect its values in its internal organizing.
- Zero budget: TBP did not hire any staff; the endeavor is completely dependent on volunteers.
- Transparency: TBP asks for donations only to pay necessary fees and bills and has pledged to make its accounts and spendings transparent.
- Direct democracy: TBP promotes direct democracy as its internal way of organizing and as a viable democratic system for Lebanon.
- Accountability: The campaign is built on open, honest, and friendly accountability mechanisms of individuals, groups, and decisions within the group.
- Grassroots organizing: TBP members believe in a bottom-up approach to political change in Lebanon. They did not seek mainstream media campaigns and have announced knocking on doors and taking the time to speak to people individually.
- Faith in the impossible: TBP members admit that their project might seem impossible but say that they have trust in the power of the people.
Agenda
[edit]TBP was created to challenge what it calls the total inefficiency of the current and previous Lebanese parliaments and their disconnect from the daily lives of citizens. TBP members crowd-sourced and contacted various experts and NGOs to build agenda papers regarding the following issues:
| Governance (8) | Human rights (5) | Public services (5) | Spatial planning (5) | Economy (4) | Environment (4) | Security & foreign policy (3) | Culture (3) | Media (2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corruption [1] | Women's Rights [2] | Education [3] | Public Spaces & Property | Economy | Environmental Issues | Security | Tourism | Media Laws |
| Electoral system [4] | Rights of People with Disabilities [5] | Healthcare [6] | Urban Planning | Budget and Taxation | Waste Management | Foreign Policy | National Dialogue and Conflict Resolution | ICT Reform and Online Freedom [7] |
| Parliament [8] | Workers and Migrant Workers' Rights | Public Transport | Traffic Laws | Agriculture Sector | Fishing and Hunting Laws [9] | Boycott of Israel | Civil War Memory and Amnesty Law | |
| Secularism | Children's rights | Electricity | Lebanese heritage | Sustainable development | Animal rights | |||
| Civil law | Sexual rights | Water | Rent law | |||||
| Personal status law | Prisoners' rights | |||||||
| Judicial system | ||||||||
| Administration & municipalities |
Some of these papers are already available on the TBP website [10] and the rest is expected to be made available by the end of April 2013.
References
[edit]- Media (Al Hayat) article about Take Back Parliament – Lebanon, 03/2013 [11]
- Blog (Lebanese Expatriate) coverage about Take Back Parliament – Lebanon, 02/2013 [12]
- Media (Annahar) article about Take Back Parliament – Lebanon, 02/2013 [13]
- Media (iloubnan) article about Take Back Parliament – Lebanon, 02/2013 [14]
- Media (Daily Star) article about Take Back Parliament – Lebanon, 10/2012 [15]