The President of the Lebanese Kataeb Party, MP Sami Jamileh, affirmed that "we will react positively to all proposals, but we will not surrender or hand the country over to Hezbollah." Jamileh made this statement after meeting with French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, accompanied by French Ambassador Hervé Magro, at the Kataeb Headquarters in Sassine.
"It was a comfortable round where we confirmed to him the Kataeb party's insistence on electing a president as soon as possible and our readiness to facilitate this task and assist in the election of a president," he noted. At the same time, he warned him about some pitfalls that might be in preparation, hoping that he would provide the necessary guarantees to reassure us about the process.
Jamileh clarified that "the guarantees revolve around two main points. First: it is not important what the form of discussions is, but whether there is a commitment from Speaker Berri to call for an open session with consecutive rounds regardless of the dialogue's outcomes. Or if disagreements arise in the dialogue, will a session still convene? Because they speak of a consultation session followed by an election session, so is the election session linked to positive results and agreements reached in the consultations, or is it separate from that? We want assurance that the open election session is independent of an agreement on the name of the president."
He added, "As for the second guarantee, it consists of the attendance of the opposition MPs in the session, because Berri could call a session that the deputies boycott, and hence the quorum would not be met, and practically we would return to square one."
The President of the Kataeb continued: "I believe it is clear to Minister Le Drian and to those dealing with this file, and we hope it will be clear to Hezbollah that the name resulting from this process must be neutral, as no one has the right to impose a president on the Lebanese. From here, we are positive about everything proposed to us and we will deal positively while obtaining the necessary guarantees to move forward."
Jamileh reiterated: "I say this to Minister Le Drian or for the international community or the Lebanese to know that we are ready to engage positively, but we will not surrender or submit the country to Hezbollah. We are firm in our stance and will not allow the state in the next six years to become part of the Iranian axis and its allies, becoming part of an obstructionist axis under sanctions and siege, closed off from the world and unable to facilitate the lives of the Lebanese."
He stressed that "institutions cannot function without a president and effective institutions, and we are keen on not handing Lebanon over to an axis that has destroyed the country and continues to do so."
It is noteworthy that the meeting was attended by MPs: Sleiman el-Sayegh, Nadim Gemayel, Elias Hankach, Kataeb Political Bureau member Joel Bou Abdo, and Head of External Relations Marwan Abdullah.
