The Kataeb’s Political Bureau convened its weekly meeting under the chairmanship of Party President Samy Gemayel to review the latest political and security developments. Following the meeting, the Bureau issued the following statement:

1. The Political Bureau welcomes the appointment of former Ambassador Simon Karam as head of Lebanon’s negotiating team, considering the step an indication of the State’s desire to reclaim control through its legitimate institutions. The Bureau reiterates its call for this measure to be matched with swift action to reassert State sovereignty by ensuring that all weapons are placed exclusively in the hands of the legitimate armed forces.

2. The Bureau rejects the recent remarks made by Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, who claimed that any solution should be limited to the area south of the Litani River; an approach that contradicts the ceasefire agreement and U.N. Resolution 1701. The Bureau considers Hezbollah’s willingness to restrict its weapons and dismantle its military and security structures only in the border area with Israel as definitive proof that the purpose of its arsenal is to exert control Lebanon from within and obstruct the rise of a sovereign, functioning State.

3. Marking the first anniversary of the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, the Bureau stresses that any tyrannical rule that massacres its own people and occupies the land of its neighbors is ultimately destined to collapse, no matter how long it takes. On this occasion, the Bureau reiterates its demand to uncover the fate of Lebanese detainees in Syrian prisons and to bring the criminal Habib Shartouni to justice.

The Bureau also calls on Hezbollah’s supporters to reflect on the recently leaked videos of the Syrian dictator, hoping that they would serve as a moment of awareness and reassessment of the credibility of those who, for years, portrayed war and death as existential necessities.

4. With Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee having completed its report on the mechanism for voting by non-resident Lebanese and referred it to the General Assembly, the time has come to translate that report into concrete steps that restore the constitutional and national significance of this process.

The Kataeb Party urges the Speaker of Parliament to convene the General Assembly without delay to debate this issue and approve the necessary measures to ensure that Lebanese expatriates can participate in the next elections, both in respect of their political rights and to end the years-long procrastination that has undermined this entitlement.