Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel strongly denounced the postponement of municipal and mukhtar elections adopted by Parliament on Thursday, calling it “a continuation of the paralysis of state institutions.”
Gemayel was speaking on Thursday after a meeting in Bikfaya with the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka.
“With Ms. Wronecka, we discussed Lebanese concerns, starting with the postponement of municipal and mukhtar elections, which is an attempt to completely paralyze all state institutions, in addition to the legitimate rights of citizens to renew democratic life by voting,” deplored the Kataeb leader.
For him, the challenge of maintaining this election would have made it possible “to confirm that Lebanon still exists, especially that we have been without a President of the Republic” since October 2022. “We have had a caretaker cabinet for two years (since the last parliamentary elections) which lacks legitimacy, not to mention the paralysis of Parliament,” Gemayel added.
The meeting with the UN Special Coordinator also focused on the issue of displaced Syrians in Lebanon, and the importance of finding “a rapid, practical and lasting solution” to alleviate the pressures that have become “too heavy for Lebanon and its people to bear in light of the crises they are undergoing.”
Also on the agenda were Security Council Resolution 1701, the ongoing war in southern Lebanon and the need to elect a President of the Republic. In this context, Gemayel reaffirmed his party’s constant position against Hezbollah “which continues to hold Lebanon and the decisions of the State hostage.”
