Kataeb Party leader Samy Gemayel on Saturday urged Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to immediately place the government’s proposed amendments to the electoral law on the parliamentary agenda, warning that stalling the bill threatens Lebanon’s fragile democratic process at a critical time.

“It is Speaker Berri’s duty to put the government’s proposal on the agenda because the matter is both urgent and essential,” Gemayel told MTV. “He must let democracy take its course rather than deciding the outcome on behalf of everyone.”

Gemayel rejected claims that the elections could be undermined by unequal conditions, insisting that the real threat to voter freedom comes from the continued presence of weapons outside state authority.

“If there’s any violation of equality, pressure on voters, or threat to their freedom, it’s because non-state arms still exist,” he said. “As long as weapons remain spread across large parts of Lebanon — in the South, the Bekaa, and Beirut’s southern suburbs — where Hezbollah intimidates both the State and citizens, then by that logic, no elections could ever take place in Lebanon.”

He questioned which was more difficult: “running as an opponent of Hezbollah in Bint Jbeil or Nabatiyeh, or the Amal-Hezbollah alliance running a campaign among expatriates abroad?”

Commenting on Hezbollah’s recent open letter, Gemayel said the party’s rhetoric “pulls Lebanon deeper into danger and gives Israel a pretext for further strikes, instead of standing by the president and supporting his efforts to restore sovereignty, liberate the country, and negotiate for Lebanon’s protection.”

He emphasized that for Lebanon to negotiate effectively, the State must have full control over its own territory, institutions, and people, adding that this is only possible “by placing all weapons under the State’s exclusive authority.”

Gemayel described Berri’s current position as that of a “mediator with no real influence over either side, simply relaying messages.”

He reiterated that “the war must end by any possible means,” adding that “there is no problem with direct or indirect negotiations, whether political or civilian. And if the president himself sits at the table, that should not be an issue as well.”