Kataeb party leader, MP Samy Gemayel, violently attacked Hezbollah on Sunday, July 9, calling for a “divorce” and a “non-violent confrontation” with the pro-Iranian party.
In an interview on LBCI, Gemayel said, “the election of a President of the Republic is the gateway to putting an end to Hezbollah’s hold on Lebanon, which has been ongoing since 2005,” and stressed the urgent need to prevent the pro-Iranian party from “imposing its candidate (Marada leader, Sleiman Frangieh, editor’s note) on the Lebanese.”
Gemayel noted in this regard that the former Minister of Finance, Jihad Azour, is a “centerist candidate because he managed to break political alignments,” but Hezbollah has turned him into a “confrontational candidate in order to impose Sleiman Frangieh.”
Recalling that Hezbollah presented the Lebanese with a choice of “submission or confrontation,” Samy Gemayel declared that he chooses “confrontation.” “If we do not make this choice, Hezbollah will bleed us dry,” he insisted.
For the Kataeb party leader, the current approach to dealing with Hezbollah will not lead to any progress. “We need to proceed to another phase,” he said. “I have shared several ideas on how this can be achieved with the opposition.”
When asked if the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) is considered part of the opposition, he said that the Aounist party is no longer among the ranks of the opposition. However, he said that he has reached out to its leader, Gebran Bassil, to discuss a new plan for confronting Hezbollah and is currently awaiting Bassil’s response. In this context, Gemayel expressed hope that the FPM would revert to its initial position, noting that it was the first party to oppose Hezbollah’s presence and defend the Army’s monopoly on arms.
Gemayel said that if Hezbollah persists in its positions, “we should rethink the partnership with them”, as he called on “all Lebanese, and not only Christians, to divorce” from the pro-Iranian formation. According to him, this implies recourse to “civil, constitutional and financial disobedience.” “Anything except violence” should be pursued, he insisted.
Regarding calls for dialogue, Gemayel said that his party is always open to dialogue, but criticized Hezbollah for “trying to change the rules of the presidential election procedure.” He said that “the Constitution does not require that the president be agreed upon, as it says that he must be elected.”
“We are ready to participate in any session that secures the necessary quorum to elect a president. But there are certain parties who are blocking the democratic procedure, and they must be held accountable for that,” Gemayel added.
Lebanon is expecting a visit from French Presidential Envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian this month, intended to help find a solution to the ongoing presidential vacuum. But Gemayel does not expect the French initiative to yield any positive results so long as Hezbollah remains intransigent.
On another note, commenting on recent statements by Vice-Governors threatening to collectively resign in case of a vacancy in the Central Bank governance, Gemayel acknowledged that “the Vice-Governors have the right to resign, although that would be an irresponsible decision,” stressing that “the responsibility lies with those refusing to elect a president.”
