Samy Gemayel: Berri acts 'with moderation, not to create internal tensions'

BEIRUT — Kataeb party leader and MP Samy Gemayel said Thursday that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is working to avoid internal tensions — a stance he described as "a necessary form of moderation." Gemayel made the remarks after meeting Berri at Ain al-Tineh, as Lebanon awaits a long-anticipated army plan to disarm militias, including Hezbollah, a close ally of the speaker that refuses to give up its weapons.

The meeting took place between Berri and the four Kataeb MPs: (Samy) Gemayel, Nadim Gemayel, Salim Sayegh and Elias Hankache. Following the meeting, the party leader stated: "After meeting President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, we were received by Berri to think together about solutions to facilitate the process of rebuilding the state."

"We have two priorities: moving from a state of absence of state to a state exercising its sovereignty over the entire territory, and making sure all weapons are put in the hands of the state, no matter which group they belong to," Gemayel said. "No weapon should escape the control of the army, and this has been said repeatedly, including by Berri himself, who pointed it out in Parliament when he told me that he supported the [state's] monopoly on weapons," he added.

On Aug. 5, the Lebanese government tasked the army with preparing a plan to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year. After this decision, Hezbollah officials and leaders condemned the measure, and their supporters organized motorcades, but demonstrations remained limited.

The Shiite community 'a partner in building Lebanon'

The Kataeb leader further insisted on his rejection of any marginalization of the Shiite community. "We want the Shiite community to be a partner in building the new Lebanon, and this is a red line (...) We are not trying to offend anyone or provoke tensions," he said. Gemayel also condemned the "accusations of treason" leveled against Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai, who strongly criticized Hezbollah, adding that such accusations "undermine all efforts to achieve consensus and find solutions."

After Archbishop Rai said Tuesday that Hezbollah has "emptied the resistance of its meaning," Jaafarite Mufti Ahmad Kabalan shot back sharply Wednesday, declaring: "No force on earth can take weapons from Hezbollah, because its weapons and those of Amal are the weapons of God."

Online, many supporters of Hezbollah and Amal criticized the patriarch's remarks, accusing him of being an "agent of Israel."

In addition to Gemayel, the Maronite League also expressed its solidarity with Rai, denouncing the "unacceptable" statements and asserting that "any offense against Bkerke is an offense against all of Lebanon."

The expatriate vote

Gemayel also addressed the legislative elections scheduled for 2026, stressing the importance that they be held on time and that expatriates vote for all 128 deputies in parliament, not in a "16th constituency" for Lebanese abroad. Berri, who opposes any amendment to the electoral law on diaspora voting, "has a major role to play in this regard," Gemayel stated.

Hezbollah, Amal and the Free Patriotic Movement support the implementation of the 2017 electoral law, which reserves six seats for diaspora deputies. These six seats were not established during the last two legislative elections in 2018 and 2022, and "temporary" amendments were then adopted.

The opposing camp — which includes nearly 68 MPs from the Lebanese Forces, Kataeb, Progressive Socialist Party and independents — wants to preserve the system used in 2018 and 2022, which allowed expatriates to vote in their home districts. A proposal filed on May 9 aims to remove the six-seat clause and is under discussion in a parliamentary subcommittee.