Surprisingly, it was also joined by the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), the Christian party of Michel Aoun, a maverick former general who had led a rising against Syria at the close of the civil war.Mr Aoun bore several grudges against March 14th.
The spectrum of candidates ranges from Michel Aoun, a former army commander whose Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) is part of the opposition, to a cluster of March 14th candidates, including Nassib Lahoud (a distant cousin of the incumbent), Butrus Harb and Charles Rizq.
Though its overall count may be significantly lower, at 142 minutes Lee's film has a higher rate of utterances of the expletive than Scorsese's, with 3.06 per minute (fpm).
Aoun's party, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) could have delivered victory to Hezbollah's coalition if it had gained 10 extra seats in the 128-member parliament, which is divided equally between Muslims and Christians.
Yet many also credited the FPM, which mobilised aid for thousands of Shias displaced by the war, with healing a historic rift between the traditionally dominant but dwindling Christians and the long-disenfranchised but now formidable Shias.
Mr Aoun collaborated closely with Hizbullah, the dominant Shia political force in Lebanon, in the 2005 election, and his list, comprising the FPM and some Christian allies, won 21 of the 128 seats, giving him a solid platform in parliament.
The FPM far outpolled the Christian parties inside Mr Siniora's coalition, reflecting wide distrust of the older, right-wing Christian parties who had gained a reputation for thuggery during the civil war.In Hizbullah's embraceMr Aoun's abrasiveness, and March 14th's unwillingness to give him the presidency, ensured that the FPM remained in opposition.
Hizbullah and the FPM have maintained a "tent city" outside the government's main offices since December 2006, following the withdrawal of all of the Shia ministers from the cabinet the previous month.The deadlock has continued despite the apparent consensus that Mr Suleiman was the right man for the job.
The FPM has defended its alliance with Hezbollah as helping to stabilise Lebanon rather than give Hezbollah a platform for renewed conflict with Israel.
"If the west wants to make serious negotiations with Islamist groups like Hezbollah then the FPM has set a precedent," Ziad Abs, who negotiated the FPM's alliance, told the Guardian.
The companies are Arrow Electronics, Computer Associates International, the FPM Group, the Griffon Corporation, Hauppauge Digital, the Nu Horizons Electronics Corporation, the Park Electrochemical Corporation, Symbol Technologies, the Systemax Corporation and Veeco Instruments.
