Civil Society Movement

Definition and Vision

CSM is a social political movement which aims, with the help of citizens and social organizations, at building the Human Society, the society of every single human - the whole human. It aims at building this society in peaceful ways and by the politics of causes rather than that of persons. CSM helps building free, democratic and secular citizens through the basic principles of secularism, democracy, participation, sovereignty, justice, development, transparency and Arabianism.

The CSM aims at a democratic secular country built on a free citizen that takes part in building a fair society that is open to its surrounding and the world based on the principle that a human being has an absolute value and on the CSM’s principles and mechanism of action.

Civil Society Movement was founded by Gregoire Haddad in 1998

The Basic Principles

The Civil Society Movement strives for development and change on all levels, through spreading culture and increasing the level of awareness among people. Its purpose is to build a free, democratic, secular citizen, and a humanitarian society, following the down-mentioned principles:

Sovereignty

Lebanon is an independent sovereign country, in which a citizen lives in utter freedom, enjoys his/her duties. It should be known that there could be neither sovereignty nor freedom in Lebanon under a sectarian and tribal regime, and while Israel still occupies part of his lands.

Secularism

Is an inclusive view of society, man and mind. It stresses the independence of all the civil world’s constituents, dimensions, valves and attitudes from all religions and philosophical sects. Secularism is of a positive neutrality towards all religions. This one of its most important characteristics is the independence of religion from sectarianism, and the independence of sects from the governmental system, Secularism seeks to re-establish the citizen’s homan worth if to re-establish the humanitarian valves which transcend instincts and fanaticism. The result would de reviving noble valves such as rightness, goodness and beauty, the thing which paves the way to true citizenship.

Democracy

Is at the base of any free social-political system. Democracy introduces antonomy through giving the people the right to elect their representative bodies which are supposed to rein in their name and for their welfare. Suffrage and the right to choose are at the base of democracy, which would not function properly without laws, institutions, a fitting frame-work, an appropriate atmosphere and actual practice.

Partnership

Is one of the loftiest forms of democracy. Partnership erupts out of democracy to develop it and activate it; for, partnership allows the citizens to share in applying the policies which the legislative and executive authorities put down. Participation means establishing and practiciping decentralization, so that the community would be able to supervise, call into account, and share in the general affairs of the country. Supervision would take place through the local boards elected by the neighborhood, village, city, district, and governorate. It means the people running their own affairs. Partnership also entails creating new economic devices, through supporting small and local cooperatives, and organizing services on all levels.

Transparency

Is on integral element of the democratic process, together with the right to vote and the right of surveillance. Transparency is synonymous with partnership and development as far as it is a means of knowledge and surveillance. It is displemed in the right of the citizen to know and the duty of the authorities to tell the truth and uncover facts. Without transparency there remains none but the freedom to choose between bad and worse. The absence of knowledge means the absence of freedom.

Equity

Is the building block of the society’s existence, and has a great role in organizing the individual’s relations in that society. It is based on rightful citizenship which contrasts with all forms of sectarian, doctrinal or zonal segregation. It is also built on the principle of equal opportunities and equality on all levels, starting with the right of the citizen in a clean, healthy environment ending with his right in a respectable living. What secures equity is the state of law and establishments, which guards the rights of the citizens.

Civilization

The highest aim of civilization and human advancement is the development of all of man-kind on all levels. Comprehensive development includes in its scope all of the citizens dispersed all over the nation, and it covers all fields whether educational, cultural, sicial, economic, environmental or political. Thus, development should be complementative, that is by organizing its operations in a balanced, harmonic way, and by pursuing its goals in a cooperative, interactive manner. This way, all levels of development would progress simultaneously all People are rightfully entitled to inclusive, complementary development.

Arabianism

Is a common civilization, culture and history, and a shared destiny, put together to build a free, democratic, non-sectarian Arabic society. The first step woulb be establishing an economic complementarity, to reach a socio-cultural intercommunication among the peoples of that society. These balanced, complementary and interactive principles are thinking material and an approach which the “Movement” seeks to spread in order to revive and revitalize the society. The “Movement” is trying to find new and original intellectual fountains rooled in the heart and experiences of our civil society. Its organizational structure is based on the simplicity of the idea which stresses the need to work and interact within a unified frame work, with the aim of bringing about change and man’s prosperity.