The leader of the Kataeb Samy Gemayel. (Photo Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel called for "continuous dialogue" on Wednesday between MPs in order to "confront Hezbollah," a month and a half before the end of President Michel Aoun' mandate.
However, in a speech delivered during the commemoration of the assassination of his uncle, former president-elect Bachir Gemayel, the MP called on Hezbollah to help "elect a rescue president."
Nadim Gemayel, an MP and son of Bachir Gemayel, called for the election of "a purely Lebanese president" and threatened to "unseat" Michel Aoun if he remains in the Baabda Palace after the end of his term.
In a speech delivered in Sassine Square, not far from the site of the attack that killed Bashir Gemayel in 1982, Samy Gemayel called on MPs to unite to confront Hezbollah.
"Despite our differences, one thing unites us: preserving an independent Lebanon. The current situation requires continuous dialogue between us," he pleaded, adding that the presidential election presents a "pivotal" deadline.
Gemayel called for the election of a president who can "rebuild the country, makes sacrifices, does not think only of his personal interests, and who will resolve the issue of Hezbollah's weapons."
He also appealed directly to Hezbollah: "If you want to live on an equal footing with the Lebanese, let's elect a rescue president together ... If you insist on changing the identity of the Republic, you will be responsible for hostility with the rest of the Lebanese."
Hezbollah’s control
Gemayel said he believes Lebanon has been "controlled by Hezbollah since the presidential compromise of 2016" between the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement, which allowed Aoun to become president.
"Today, there are two states in Lebanon: the Lebanese Republic and the Hezbollah state," said Gemayel. "Each has its own army, its economy, its organization, and its sources of funding."
He also criticized the alliance between the FPM — whose leader, Gebran Bassil, is sanctioned by Washington for corruption charges — and Hezbollah, the only faction that has retained its weapons since the end of the Lebanese Civil War. Gemayel accused Hezbollah of covering for Bassil’s corruption, while Bassil provides a cover for the weapons.
"Whether President Aoun leaves Baabda or not, it's the same," said Nadim Gemayel, MP for Achrafieh, in front of a crowd of Kataeb supporters and leaders of various political parties. "It's as if he was not there and as if he was not president."
"If [Michel Aoun] does not want to leave the presidential palace, we will go there and we will unseat him," Nadim Gemayel added. He continued by saying he opposes any "president of the March 8 camp who would be at the mercy of Iran."
Nadim Gemayel also criticized a "failure to respect constitutional deadlines that has become commonplace in the country," in dig at Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, who has not yet convened the General Assembly to elect a successor to Aoun.
"In 40 years, they have tried by all means to destroy Lebanon through the Syrian occupation, the series of attacks, and the Iranian occupation via the control of its party in Lebanon," said Nadim Gemayel, in an apparent allusion to Hezbollah.
"Hezbollah controls all state institutions. We must not be afraid and we must face it, otherwise the country will disappear," he concluded.
