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Ten high-ranking members of the National Bloc party announced their resignation from their current posts in a fiery statement published on Tuesday.
The resigned members are Myriam Sayyah (Chairperson of the Party’s Council), Raymond Younan (Council member), Karl Khoury (Council member), Veronique Khabbaz (Deputy of the President of the Middle Eastern Chapter and Council member), Nohad Nassour (President of the Northern Metn District and Council member), Joey Ghaleb (President of the North American Chapter and Council member), Nisrine Moukarzel (Council member), Nader Mokdad (Council member), Cesar Emmanuel (Council member) and Georges Abi Nakad (Treasurer of the American Chapter).
The statement cited several reasons that motivated this decision, such as “the lack of transparency, strategy, and vision,” “temporary alliances built on shaky foundations,” “continuous changes to internal regulations,” and “the party’s lack of a true identity.”
“We refuse to stand as false witnesses and advocates for a political project that has been limping for the past four years and lacking clarity and vision, whose discourse drifts according to political tendencies as well as fails to uphold the voice of truth and justice above all considerations,” as announced in the statement.
A source close to the National Bloc revealed to This is Beirut that “there has been a resignation every 2 to 3 hours,” explaining that this phenomenon is “the result of the deepening dysfunction within the National Bloc party and the leadership’s blatant lack of transparency, which dates from 2018 when the National Bloc was relaunched.”
“Those who resigned quit their positions but not the party. Nevertheless, in the last 48 hours, leadership members have been trying to dissuade their peers from resigning, asking them to discuss the matter internally, while others are encouraging them to resign in order to replace them by holding partial elections to bring in new members who would be 100% subservient.”
Furthermore, another source explained to This is Beirut that “the whole purpose of the party’s relaunch was to create a modern and revolutionary system, where all levels would be elected, from the base all the way to the top, so that political decisions would be taken based on this structure.”
However, according to this source, several reasons kickstarted these resignations, namely “the false marketing of the party which showcased it to be a modern, young, and revolutionary party while, in fact, it acted similarly to traditional parties, revolving around the persona of the head of its Executive Committee, Michel Helou. There has been a growing feeling of betrayal among the National Bloc members, due to Helou’s goal to transform the party into a platform that would benefit him and further his political ambitions. The lack of transparency, sincerity, and credibility related to stances against Hezbollah also didn’t help and actively contributed to the situation we are facing today.”
This is Beirut reached out to the National Bloc party for a comment but has not received a response. The party replied on Thursday, few hours after the article was published. In its reply to TIB’s questions, asked by email, the National Bloc said “it regrets the resignation of some of its General Assembly members, due to internal divergences that could have been healthy, had their expression followed the standards of partisanship”.
“However, objections and resignations remain natural in a democratic and dynamic party”, stated the NB, adding that “internal democracy lies at the core of its values : the party had organized its internal elections in November 2022, where participation reached 78% of all members, and resulted in the election of the current General Assembly and Executive Committee”.
“It is based on this strong legitimacy that we will keep promoting the National Bloc‘s progressive values that are rooted in its history, and that were confirmed in the party’s relaunch in 2019”, according to the NB’s email.
