In the last 48 hours for accepting nomination requests for parliamentary elections in Lebanon, the major Lebanese parties have actively announced their candidates' names, without finalizing the coalitions, which are expected to remain unclear until April 5th, the final deadline for registering electoral lists with the Ministry of Interior.
After Hezbollah announced its candidates around two weeks ago, its ally, the President of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil, revealed his candidates yesterday, while the President of the Amal Movement, Nabih Berri, is expected to do the same today (Monday). The Lebanese Forces Party is announcing its candidates in stages, concluding tomorrow, with civil society groups also gradually revealing their candidates for the parliamentary elections set for May 15th.
This comes as the intensity of "electoral speeches" has started to escalate, typically characterized by high rhetoric. This was clearly evident in Bassil's speech yesterday, where he launched an attack primarily on the Lebanese Forces and its leader Samir Geagea, as well as on Christian parties and revolutionary groups, describing them as "the chameleon party" and "the false revolution." He suggested a constitutional amendment that would allow the president to be elected in two rounds: the first among Christians and the second among all Lebanese, asking, "Will the candidates dare to adopt this constitutional amendment?"
Bassil announced 20 candidates across various constituencies, with his candidate for the Northern Bekaa district to be determined later. In a speech at his seventh national conference titled "We Were... and We Will Remain," he stated: "We endured for 15 years to achieve liberation, and we are prepared to endure for years to achieve liberation," announcing a "war to liberate the economy of Lebanon and the deposits of the Lebanese," and again promising "to secure electricity, dams, extract oil and gas, recover funds, develop the system, and build the state."
He emphasized that "the movement's revolution remained alone demanding the rights of the people, calling for forensic audits, capital control, laws for the recovery of funds, asset disclosure laws, and holding the central bank governor accountable, and working on a financial recovery plan that distributes losses equitably... They fled, and we remained alone fighting because we stand neither to seize nor to sell out, and they are silent because they are funded by an embassy or by the central bank and its affiliates."
He spoke about attempts to morally assassinate him and launched an attack on Geagea and the collapse of the Maarab agreement between them, stating: "The criminal, even if he leaves his prison in body, remains imprisoned in thought and wants to kill. He does not have the cover to kill physically; he kills politically. The important thing is to kill. They intensified their campaign on October 17, adopting the revolution although they were partners in the government, and they only disagreed with us over shares... Their entire agenda is to topple President Michel Aoun and the movement and distort the image to win elections through lies and foreign money. They and the system, what is their project? Sabotage, not reform."
In an attack on the Christian parties contesting in the third Northern district that includes Batroun, where Bassil is a candidate, he noted that their struggle is solely to bring him down, accusing them of being "agents" and mentioning their use of "political money." He remarked, "Their electoral project is to bring down Gebran and the movement, not to reform the state and the economy. One wants to eliminate his party and the goal is to bring down Gebran and the movement. The second gets money from a state and distributes it in the media, the title being to bring down Gebran and the movement. The third comes with 30 million to finance the project to bring down Gebran and the movement." He added, "They like to work with agents and thieves and pay the money, and their result is always failure."
He stated, "On October 17, the chameleon party and the false revolution thought they had defeated us. On August 4, they thought they blew us up, along with the capital and the port. In reality, they blew up the dreams of the youth and thought afterward that they could bury us simply by accepting the real exchange of the port for our political interests."
He justified his alliance with Hezbollah, addressing supporters by saying: "We ally electorally and remain politically free. This means we do not abandon our case nor immerse ourselves in corruption or subservience. We make the alliance and win in deputies without changing a stance, demand, or dropping accusations, and the deputies we win will serve our cause."
He said, "No one should overlook you regarding electoral alliances; confront them with a question about their alliances. Ask a militia leader about his alliance with a militia leader he fought against; they fought and displaced each other, yet they ally. Ask a sheikh's son about his alliance with a sheikh's son in the name of revolution and change. Ask a son of the red revolution about his alliance with the son of the colored revolution. Ask the son of corruption about his alliance with the son of the false revolution. Honestly, alliances ensure results, and everyone votes for their preferred deputies, and our people vote for our deputies. It's true they are on the same train, but each has his own compartment, and along the way, each has his window and view, and when we reach the station, everyone goes their own way."
He refused to place himself among the majority, stating: "We are not part of any majority. We differ from one another and are not convinced by each other's behavior, and we consider some of us responsible for the obstruction and collapse. But be cautious, differences do not lead to division and war."
**The Kataeb Party**
The head of the Kataeb party, resigned MP Sami Gemayel, stated that "what saves Lebanon today is a sincere national project that unites the Lebanese from all groups and sects," emphasizing that "what threatens Hezbollah the most is the unity of the Lebanese, which is why it tries to sow division by creating security incidents." He called for "breaking barriers and overcoming fears to build the new Lebanon based on the rule of law and pluralism, a civilized and developed Lebanon," affirming the necessity to hold accountable all those who brought Lebanon to its current state to put an end to their practices and extricate Lebanon from its crisis.
Gemayel confirmed that "the meeting that took place in Beirut among opposition groups was not separate from the Kataeb but coordinated with it via the Lebanese opposition front to reach a common ground that allows for unified efforts."
**The Socialist Party**
With the return of some "previous political divisions" represented by the March 8 and March 14 teams, albeit with the absence of the Future Movement this time, there is a political alliance and agreement between the Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party in several districts. MP Wael Abou Faour from the Socialist Party stated that the March 8 project is to secure two-thirds of Parliament's members to bring Bassil to the presidency. He said in a statement: "The project of the March 8 forces altogether in the upcoming parliamentary elections is summarized in securing two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives, thereby imposing their favored candidate as president, controlling constitutional amendments, changing the system, and turning the existing weapons into a constitutional reality, which will not be accepted by the will of the Lebanese."
