On Wednesday, French presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian met with Kataeb Party leader Samy Gemayel at the party’s headquarters in Saifi to discuss the presidential dossier.
Gemayel stated that the meeting aimed to warn Le Drian about “some pitfalls that may be in preparation,” and to demand that certain steps in the electoral process be “guaranteed.” First, calling for a guarantee that Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri will call for successive sessions until a President is elected, regardless of the outcomes of the dialogue. Second, a guarantee that the Resistance Axis MPs will attend the session.
He stated that the candidate should be “neutral,” emphasizing that “no one can impose a President on the Lebanese people.”
“The Kataeb Party is ready to engage positively, but we will not surrender by handing the country over to Hezbollah and becoming part of Iran and its allies’ axis,” Gemayel continued. “If this happens we will become part of an axis of resistance, subject to sanctions and blockades, isolated and unable to open up to the world.”
He confirmed that “the Kataeb Party is determined to elect a president as soon as possible and is ready to facilitate this task, considering that institutional work cannot proceed without a president at the head of effective institutions.”
