Gemayel says Berri acting moderately, 'to avoid internal tension'

BEIRUT — MP and head of the Kataeb Samy Gemayel, said on Thursday that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is "trying not to create internal tension, which is necessary, and is a kind of moderation," after meeting with him in Ain al-Tineh, accompanied by Kataeb MPs Nadim Gemayel, Salim Sayegh and Elias Hankash.

On Aug. 5, the Lebanese government tasked the Lebanese Army with preparing a plan to disarm Hezbollah, Berri's ally, by the end of the year. Following this decision, Hezbollah officials and leaders condemned the move and supporters staged motorcycle convoys, but the protests remained limited in scope.

Gemayel said after the meeting: “After visiting President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, we met with Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri to consult with him and try to think together about solutions and facilitate the process of rebuilding the state.”

"We have two priorities: transitioning from a state of statelessness to a state of sovereignty over all of its territory, and handing over all weapons to the state, regardless of which group they belong to. No weapon should be outside the army's control, and this has been reiterated repeatedly, even by Berri, who emphasized it in Parliament when he told me that he supports the [state's] monopoly over weapons," Gemayel added.

Kataeb 'meet halfway with Berri'

The MP stressed that he rejects any marginalization of the Shiite community: "For us, we want the Shiite community to be a partner in building the new Lebanon, and this is a red line for us.”

"We are not interested in clashing with anyone or creating tension. Those who are working on this issue aim to prevent a peaceful and smooth transition towards state-building," he said.

Gemayel also condemned the "accusations of treason" against Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai that have been circulating after Rai sharply criticized Hezbollah, adding that such accusations undermine all efforts to reach consensus and solutions, including those proposed by Berri through his attempts to find common ground."

Need the context?

‘Patriarch of the agents’: Rai once again in Hezbollah’s crosshairs

After Rai said that the party has emptied resistance of its true meaning, Jaafari Mufti Ahmad Qabalan responded sharply on Wednesday, saying, “No force on earth can take away Hezbollah’s weapons because its weapons and those of the Amal Movement are the weapons of God.”

Expatriates vote

Finally, Gemayel mentioned the 2026 Parliamentary elections, stressing the importance of the elections taking place on time and that expatriates vote for the 128 MPs. "Berri has a big role to play in this regard," he said.

Regarding the expatriate vote, the FPM and the Hezbollah-Amal alliance support implementing a 2017 electoral law as written, which reserves six seats for diaspora MPs, but has never been enforced. The opposing side — which includes around 68 MPs from the Lebanese Forces, Kataeb, the Progressive Socialist Party, the Change Bloc, independents and others — wants to preserve the system used in 2018 and 2022 that allowed expatriates to vote based on their district of origin. A proposal submitted May 9 would eliminate the six-seat clause.