History
The coalition takes it name from the town of its headquarters, Qornet Shehwan, a town in the Matn District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, and the seat of the Maronite Archbishopric of the district. It was founded on April 30, 2001 by total of 29 individuals, representing political parties and civic organizations, as well as independents, with the blessing of the Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir and under the leadership of the region's bishop Youssef Bechara. Membership (see below) has fluctuated since, as some founding members and parties are no longer affiliated. Even Patriarch Sfeir retreated from his earlier endorsement of the group (under government pressure, some allege) to a less partisan stance. Some who have left continue to work with the coalition informally, however.
As a prelude to a full withdrawal of Syrian troops, the Qornet Shehwan originally called for their redeployment to the Bekaa Valley and described Israel as the main danger to Lebanon. In the wake of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on 14 February 2005, however, the Qornet Shehwan escalated its campaign to call for the immediate withdrawal of Syrian military and intelligence forces from Lebanon, and for fresh parliamentary and presidential elections to be held, free from foreign interference. Qornet Shehwan member (and now parliamentarian) Samir Frangieh said on March 16, 2005 that parliamentary elections must precede presidential ones, because the current parliament (elected in 2000 and allegedly gerrymandered to produce a pro-Syrian majority), would be likely to elect another pro-Syrian President to succeed Émile Lahoud, whom the opposition considers to be a Syrian puppet.
The 2005 parliamentary elections results were disastrous for the Qornet Shehwan Gathering, because most of their candidates lost to Free Patriotic Movement of general Michel Aoun, whose candidates grabbed 21 seats in the Christian heartland. Only 14 members of the gathering (Nayla Moawad, Jawad Boulos Solange Gemayel, Gebran Tueni, Samir Frangieh, Boutros Harb, 2 of the Kataeb candidates and 6 of the Lebanese Forces candidates) managed to get to the parliament.
Read more about this topic: Qornet Shehwan Gathering
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