The Kataeb party led by MP Sami Gemayel warned against coexisting with the persisting status quo in Lebanon amid a slowdown of the momentum to elect a president of the republic, which, according to them, would only serve Hezbollah’s objective of imposing its own presidential candidate.
A statement issued on Tuesday, following a meeting of the party’s Politburo, said: “The relegation of the presidential election to the rear of the political scene is a forfeit to the reality that Hezbollah is trying to enforce, and that is, either electing a president that succumbs to its dictates or having no president at all.”
The party also cautioned against “falling into the trap of normalization” by accepting the void that paralyzes Parliament, hampers a functional government, and undermines what remains of the state.
“This would leave the arena open for Hezbollah to complete its coup by imposing new equations and dangerous precedents,” it said, calling for full adherence to the constitution and the country’s democratic process, away from futile dialogue.
The Kataeb condemned the crime that occurred in Qornet al-Sawda, in which two young men from the town of Bsharri were killed on Saturday, July 1st.
It conveyed “warm condolences to the victims’ families, reiterated its solidarity with the people of Bsharri, called for a swift investigation into the crime, and for the perpetrators to be brought to justice in order to preserve equality and justice among citizens, without which they cannot exist.”
The party also considered Lebanon’s abstention from voting in the United Nations on the resolution to establish a commission tasked with determining the fate of the forcibly disappeared persons in Syria unjustified and that it did not serve its interests.
“Dozens of our citizens remain in Syrian prisons without knowing their fate, including Kataeb political bureau member comrade Boutros Khawand, who was abducted 31 years ago.”
“It is high time to close this file through international mechanisms and pressure the Syrian regime to open all its prisons and reveal the fate of the disappeared. This is a necessary first step to close a dark chapter that was witnessed by the whole world, and Lebanon cannot abandon its missing children under any pretext,” the Kataeb communique added.
