political manifesto identifies the movement as "beyond the requirement of singularity of thought" and open to leftists of all denominations. This emphasis on pluralism distinguishes the DLM from other leftist groups in Lebanon. Domestic policy The DLM is one of a few parties to propose secularization of the Lebanese state. This includes abolishing sectarian appropriation of public jobs, replacing the confessional parliamentary system with a representative system, and permitting the execution of civil marriage on Lebanese soil. The Economist magazine described the party as the "most avowedly secular component" of the March 14 Alliance. The DLM appeals for administrative reform in the public sector through a decentralization, modernization, and mechanization plan. It defends human rights and calls for the respect of public freedoms and rule of law. Listed within its platform is support for the marginalized and the abandonment of divisive particularism. The movement supports prohibiting the discrimination of the disabled. Foreign policy On foreign policy, the DLM platform is more uniform. The party calls for a diverse, unified, and democratic Arab society. It opposes foreign interference in Lebanese politics and supports correcting imbalanced relations with Syria. In the Shebba farms dispute, the movement advocates resolving the identity of the territory through diplomacy. If the farms are determined Lebanese, the cabinet should authorize their "liberation" either diplomatically or militarily but through state institutions alone to allow the state to fulfill its role there. On the broader Arab-Israeli Conflict, the DLM appeals for the creation of a regional defense strategy which protects Lebanese sovereignty from Israeli aggression while promoting the interests of the region. It opposes American intervention in Iraq and elsewhere while also rejecting authoritarian governments like the Ba'ath. The party advocates democracy in Syria and associates with its democratic opposition, particularly the Syrian Democratic People's Party. Electoral results In the legislative elections of May and June 2005, the DLM won one seat to become the first leftist political party in the Lebanese Parliament. Holding the Maronite seat of Tripoli, Elias Atallah represented the district as part of the March 14 Alliance, a pro-Western political coalition and parliamentary majority. Atallah received 89,890 votes to defeat rival Fayez Wajih Karam by 14,482 votes. In the 2009 elections, Atallah could not seek reelection because March 14 selected Samer Saadeh, a Kataeb Party candidate, to run on the coalition's list in the Tripoli district. Meanwhile, Amin Wahbi, another DLM candidate, won a Shiite