Former minister Élias Murr and MP Samy Gemayel vote in Metn during the May 2022 legislative elections. (Credit: Marc Fayad/L’Orient-Le Jour)
"The Metn Union of Municipalities must align with the new era the country is experiencing." That’s how Elias Hankash, a Kataeb MP for the district, summarized his party’s vision for the upcoming municipal elections in an interview with L’Orient-Le Jour. The Kataeb are seeking to lead the union, which comprises 33 municipalities in their traditional stronghold. But it won’t be an easy race.In this battle, party leader Samy Gemayel and the Kataeb are up against a powerful rival: the Murr family, whose influence in Metn has spanned more than five decades. The late Michel Murr, a longtime MP who died in 2021, built a stronghold in the region through a clientelist network that relied heavily on mayors and mokhtars (elected local officials responsible for records) who acted as intermediaries of his power. Look back Michel Murr, a...
"The Metn Union of Municipalities must align with the new era the country is experiencing." That’s how Elias Hankash, a Kataeb MP for the district, summarized his party’s vision for the upcoming municipal elections in an interview with L’Orient-Le Jour. The Kataeb are seeking to lead the union, which comprises 33 municipalities in their traditional stronghold. But it won’t be an easy race.In this battle, party leader Samy Gemayel and the Kataeb are up against a powerful rival: the Murr family, whose influence in Metn has spanned more than five decades. The late Michel Murr, a longtime MP who died in 2021, built a stronghold in the region through a clientelist network that relied heavily on mayors and mokhtars (elected local officials responsible for records) who acted as intermediaries of his power. Look back Michel...
