Socialist Arab Lebanon Vanguard Party
The Socialist Arab Lebanon Vanguard Party is a political party in Lebanon. The party was led by Abd al-Majid al-Rafei until his death in July 2017. It is the Lebanese regional branch of the Iraqi-led Ba'ath Party. The party held its second congress in October 2011. Founders of the party included Dr. Abd al-Majid al-Rafei, Jihad George Karam, Rafiq Nasib Alfaqiya, Karam Mohamed Assahli, Hani Mohamed Shoiab, Ammar Mohamed Shabli, Hassan Khalil Gharib and Asaf Habin Alharakat.
The existence of the Lebanese branch of the Iraqi-led Ba'ath Party has much longer roots than its Syrian-led counterpart. Following the 1966 split in the Ba'ath Party between Iraqi and Syrian-dominated factions, the pro-Iraqi party was led by Abd al-Majid Rafei.
At first the pro-Iraqi party and the pro-Syrian party worked side-by-side in the Lebanese National Movement, but with tension increasing between them, the two parties were on a war footing. The party was active in 1960s demonstrations, and al-Rafei was detained by Lebanese authorities for his political activities. However, he was a candidate from Tripoli in the 1968 general election. The party expanded during the first half of the 1970s, and in the 1972 general election al-Rafi was elected to parliament from Tripoli. Ali al-Khalil, a former member, was elected from Tyre. The party was active in southern Lebanon, and was built with generous aid from Iraq.
During the Lebanese Civil War, the Lebanese parliament formed the National Dialogue Committee in 1975. Assem Qanso of the pro-Syrian party became a member, but no figures from the pro-Iraqi Ba'ath Party were given a seat on the committee. The party was a member of the Lebanese National Movement, a political alliance led by Kamal Jumblatt of the Progressive Socialist Party. Tahsein al-Atrash, leader of the Ba'ath branch at the time, was shot dead in November 1981.
