Kataeb Political Bureau member Joelle Bou Abboud said her party emerged as one of the biggest winners in Lebanon’s recent municipal elections, brushing aside claims of victory by the Free Patriotic Movement and warning against political coercion and illicit tactics used to sway electoral outcomes.

In an interview with Al Jadeed TV, Bou Abboud argued that the notion of winning and losing remains "elastic and strange" in Lebanon’s political lexicon.

“The Free Patriotic Movement considers itself victorious, yet it holds no municipalities in the Metn district,” she said. “Meanwhile, the Kataeb Party not only won in Metn but across Lebanon. In the past, Christian representation was often framed as a duality between the Lebanese Forces and the FPM. The latest results show that Kataeb is now a national force.”

She said the Kataeb Party has a strong presence and strategic alliances in most Lebanese regions and that official data will soon back up these claims.

“In smaller towns, battles were mostly driven by family ties, but in mid-sized and larger areas, political parties played a key role by supporting local families,” she noted.

Touching on the electoral dispute in Zahle, Bou Abboud explained that Kataeb and the Lebanese Forces were aligned in 90 percent of municipalities across Lebanon, slamming attempts to distort the party's image as a tactic to win the elections. 

“They tried to discredit the Kataeb Party, something we will never accept. The presence of Kataeb in any area represents a sovereign position, and no one has the right to say otherwise,” she said.

In Beirut, Bou Abboud said Kataeb had proposed legislation aimed at securing sectarian parity in the city’s municipal council, a proposal she claimed was rejected by all parties.

“To ensure parity, we decided to enter this electoral battle ourselves,” she said.

Turning to the Metn district, Bou Abboud drew a sharp line between Kataeb’s dealings with mayors and those of the El-Murr political dynasty.

“We engaged with municipal heads as responsible, trustworthy individuals. They know that the Metn's Union of Municipalities has underperformed in recent years, and the district hasn’t received its due share,” she said. “They are the ones who said they’d back Nicole Gemayel because of her model leadership in Bikfaya.”

She accused the El-Murrs of resorting to political pressure and financial incentives to sway municipal votes.

“It’s well known that money was used to pressure mayors into electing Mirna El-Murr, and that some mayors were threatened with legal investigations. The El-Murrs lost 11 municipalities. In a nutshell, we won, politically. We only lost the union presidency,” she asserted.

She added that Kataeb is standing firm by its principles in contrast to those using threats and money to manipulate outcomes.

Responding to questions about a possible legal challenge to the election of the union’s vice presidency, Bou Abboud pointed to a gap in the current legal framework.

“There’s no clear article requiring a second round. Filing an appeal is a democratic right. It’s up to the judiciary to decide whether to accept it or not, and the union needs to clarify the legal process and election mechanism,” she said.

Bou Abboud also weighed in on national issues, including Hezbollah’s arsenal, following a meeting between President Joseph Aoun and the group’s parliamentary bloc, Loyalty to the Resistance. She stressed that the disarmament of Hezbollah has long been a Lebanese demand, championed by Kataeb and other parties, even before the recent war. 

“After everything Lebanon has been through, and after being held hostage by Hezbollah, it’s become clear this weapon didn’t serve its purpose. It destroyed both Hezbollah and Lebanon,” she said.

For Bou Abboud, the path to a strong and sovereign state begins with the handover of Hezbollah’s weapons to the state.

“This isn’t surrender. It’s about time these weapons return to the state's custody. There’s no turning back,” she said.

Turning to the issue of arms in Palestinian refugee camps, Bou Abboud said recent developments signal a historic shift.

“For the first time, we’re seeing serious work and high-level Palestinian meetings aimed at surrendering these weapons. The Lebanese state is also making an effort,” she said.

“The Palestinian Authority has come to realize these arms did nothing for Palestine and only destroyed Lebanon. If we move forward with this process, it would mean we are finally ending the remnants of the Cairo Agreement and the era of Palestinian militarization in Lebanon.”