A meeting in Meerab attended in particular by the leader of the LF, Samir Geagea, and MP Nadim Gemayel (Kataeb), on March 15, 2025. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea and Kataeb party MP Nadim Gemayel met on Saturday to discuss forming a coalition for the upcoming municipal elections, which are scheduled for May this year.
Gemayal stated that, during this "fruitful" meeting in Meerab, he had emphasized his desire to form "the largest possible coalition in Beirut to ensure the best representation of all regions in the capital," though he did not specify which parties or political factions he wished to see form the coalition.
The elections "must take place on time," Gemayal urged, "so as to complete the democratic process and ensure the rotation of power." The municipal elections have been delayed already several years reportedly as a result of the socio-economic crisis and, in 2024, due to the war in South Lebanon.
Municipal elections were last held in Lebanon in 2016, in which councils were voted in for a six-year term. Many of the thousands of municipal councils have since resigned or are unable to carry out their duties as a result of financial strains and a lack of human resources.
LF Beirut MPs Ghassan Hasbani and Jihad Pakradouni also attended the meeting, as did Elie Charbachi, an unsuccessful candidate in the 2022 legislative elections. LF and Kataeb were part of the same coalition during the Civil War, known as "the Lebanese Front," which split into two groups after the assassination in 1982 of President Bashir Gemayel, Nadim Gemayel's father. Those groups eventually transformed into the two distinct political parties. Fundamentally sovereignist, they are politically aligned, notably in their opposition to Hezbollah.
In the legislative elections, Beirut is divided into two constituencies, LF and Kataeb ran on separate lists in the "Beirut I" constituency. In Beirut II, neither party had a candidate. The municipality of Beirut covers both constituencies and, in 2016, all the traditional parties came together on a single list, which won all the seats on the municipal council, against civil society groups and independents.