Kataeb Leader Samy Gemayel lambasted Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem, who said Wednesday that "the choice today is between Frangieh and presidential vacuum”, considering that the Lebanese are the ones who decide.

 “It is the Lebanese who decide, and we will not allow anyone to decide who our president will be. We will fight this battle to the fullest extent, and we will use all available means to prevent the imposition of a new tutelage on the Lebanese,” he noted.

His statement followed a meeting with MP Michel Mouawad at the Kataeb Headquarters in Saifi.

“We are trying to intensify our meetings to follow up on developments,” Gemayel said.

“I hope that we will all remain on the same position and continue this battle until the end in order to restore our country, our decision and our freedom,” he stated.

Gemayel considered that handing over the country to the Hezbollah axis leads to more impoverishment, dependence and humiliation for the people.

“Hezbollah deals with us according to the Israeli logic in dealing with the Palestinians, and “this logic does not work with us”; this country is for all the Lebanese, and we will not accept any blackmail,” he went on saying.

For his part, MP Michel Mouawad vowed that he, along with his supporters, "will not allow any candidate from the moumanaa [a term for the pro-Iranian axis in Lebanon] to reach the presidency."

“We should return to the constitution that unites the Lebanese and carry out the required structural reforms," he emphasized.

“This is the real battle, and our position includes extending our hand to the solution, not to more domination, bullying and threats,” he added.

“Our position is clear. We will not allow any candidate from the moumanaa to reach the presidency,” he affirmed.

“The battle we are fighting is not just a presidential battle, but rather a battle to restore the state and the dignity of the Lebanese,” he concluded.