Figures in Lebanon’s Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) have proposed establishing a “collective leadership” to the movement’s leader, Michel Aoun. Though Aoun’s preliminary approval has been all but secured, it remains for the proposal to move from the theoretical to the practical.
On 22 November 2004, the anniversary of Lebanon’s independence, General Michel Aoun addressed the Lebanese from Parisian exile, calling on them to start preparing for the era that follows Syrian suzerainty over Lebanon.
The FPM leader’s calculations were spot on: “The Syrian army will not remain for long in Lebanon.” However, in the same breath, Aoun warned, “We are not ready yet to cope with the consequences of this step, so we have to sit down and think about the post- Syrian phase.