Kataeb Lawmaker Nadim Gemayel commented in an interview via “Mtv Podcast” on the news of finding a hologram of a bomb near his house in Achrafieh.

 “The investigations showed that the incident was very absurd, but the media attention that it garnered was due to the circumstances and timing, especially that it happened a day before the 12th presidential electionssession in conjunction with our open confrontation with Hezbollah, in addition to the place, near my house in Achrafieh. The media must be accurate and cautious in transferring such information” he said.

He pointed out that the history of assassinations and their association with Gemayel family necessitates prudence and precaution, especially under his advanced , affirming that he is committed to defending the cause with conviction, and to saying things with transparency and clarity.

“Security and freedom are two files that have been on the table since the Syrian tutelage, as we are being forced to choose between them. Therefore, today we want to break this equation, like we broke the barrier of fear on March 14, liberated ourselves from it, and came out to freedom. Today, and after the era of assassinations, we see that the assassination concern is back, and the level of freedom declined not only in positions but also in political behaviors in the country. Here is the difference between the resilience in positions and the submission to fear,”  Gemayel went on saying.

In response to a question about how he received the news of the martyrdom of Former Minister Pierre Gemayel, he said: “I was in the car when I received the news of the assassination. My relationship with Pierre went through two stages, a heated stage especially after the by-elections of Baabda and Aley in 2003, when I supported the candidate who was against Walid Jumblatt, the Syrian social nationalist party, and the whole political system. As for Pierre, he was against this option and was with the consensus on the candidate Henri Helou at that time to win by acclamation. The issue was resolved after a year and a half, and the relationship became solid again, and we joined the Party. I was affected by the assassination of Pierre, and things were not easy.”

In response to a question about separating politics from personal matters within the Gemayel family, he said: “This is the reality. Politics overshadows personal relationships, but it did not lead to the loss of respect and appreciation especially towards the President Amine Gemayel, who I consider the father of the family despite the political differences that we went through. During my participation in the meetings of the Political Bureau, I see Samy Gemayel as the Leader of the Kataeb Party and not my cousin. I separate kinship from politics especially in the party work. With time, the idea of cooperation and coordination not only with my uncle, my cousin, and the family but also with all the other parties matured in me.”

When asked about the existence of a friendship with the other team, Gemayel responded: “Friendships are few. I cherish them and the people on a personal level, and I have great adaptive power, but since we cannot separate between relations and politics, we must agree on basic matters in life and society.”

As for his personal life, he said: “I have my life outside of politics and this is necessary. What we do is to serve a specific lifestyle and improve the situation, and therefore I certainly have my hobbies and my personal life to develop an effective political life sometimes they meet, and sometimes they do not. In the beginning, no one prepared me to wade through politics, but the burden was big. In case I wanted to give an advice to Amine Pierre Gemayel, I would tell him to live his life before entering politics, as the weight that the society imposes on you is great.”

“I consider that what my mother did by distancing us from the political atmosphere was a good choice, because the life that I lived in France was normal even when I decided to go to university, one of my choices was universities in Lebanon as the political life and struggle start from this place. I reconsidered the matter, and found that reopening and freedom of movement is by going abroad, which opened up great horizons for me,” he went on saying.

“To be the son of Bachir Gemayel is not a Burden, but it carries difficulties, and the person has to adapt with them, bear the pressure that will be placed on him, and separate his political life from his personal one. The biggest burden I faced is the comparison between me and my father. Some people feel comfortable in the comparison and consider it good, while others consider it a disappointment, but this disappointment is for them and not for me, because I live by my convictions and the strength to get rid of this burden and make your choices. Bachir lived in completely different circumstances and with different resources that are not available today, and till date, I still maintain Bachir's traits, transparency, frankness and clarity of thought.” Gemayel added.

Regarding the survival of Bachir in the memory of the Lebanese, he said: “Bachir is not repeated and will notbe repeated in any person, and whoever remains in the complex of searching for Bachir, let him continue searching. Today I am freed from this complex, and I believe that I have the possibility to live and achieve the dream of Bachir Gemayel with different tools and methods.”

“Bachir was not a militia leader, but rather a resistance leader and I fully know that what he was doing was a result of rightness and emanated from a lot of strength and courage for the benefit of the country, despite the failures such as Ehden Incident, and what I know about it is that what happened was not Bachir’s intention. However, it was necessary to put an end to the rams that occurred at the time between the Lebanese Forces or Kataeb and the people of Zgharta. Today, after the war, everyone bears this burden,” he indicated.

“My mother raised us away from hatred and rancor, and taught us about justice and truth and the importance of preserving them. She did not speak ill of anyone, interpreting reality as it is, and in my opinion, this education has brought me to what I am today, respected by everyone and I will remain, and commitment to values and principles is not a weakness, but this is the approach that must be adopted in politics,” he added.

Regarding hobbies, Gemayel stated: “Since I was young, I have loved everything related to technology as well as photography in particular montage. I also like sports and among my hobbies is skiing, and I separate politics from my time with the family.”

“I do not work in politics to only reach power or presidency, I work in politics in order to serve the community, and for this reason I established "Achrafieh 2020" association in which we carry out activities that improve the conditions of the society, and for me politics should serve the lifestyle that resembles us,” he noted.

"There is something in me that is heading towards achieving what Bachir did not achieve. The issue of the presidency is not one of my goals, and if one day my presence in the presidency is required to serve Lebanon, I may go to this option,” he stated

 

In response to a question about his ambition to be then Leader of the Kataeb Party, he jokingly replied, "Why not the Lebanese Forces?”

As for his relationship with the Lebanese Forces and the parliamentary elections, he said: “There was a misunderstanding with the Lebanese Forces in the parliamentary elections, and the page was turned the next day. I was hoping that we can run the elections together not to win or lose because I was certain of winning and I raised my number, but I believe that the battle in Achrafieh is in terms of principle, and the strength of Kataeb and Lebanese Forces should not be fragmented together, which gives a push to the base.”

“There are competitors for my seat in Achrafieh, and this is the democratic life that gives me impetus and this is the competition that gives me legitimacy. I did not run for the elections just because I am the son of Bachir Gemayel, but because I want to serve the public interest. I became convinced that my achievements are looked after by Bachir of course, but what I did in the city is due to my personal effort. The presence of Bachir is getting stronger today in the Lebanese street especially after the last 5 years. Anyone can compare himself to Bachir, but no one will reach a quarter of his image,” he continued.

Presidentially, Gemayel stressed: “We consider that there are two parts to this battle. The first is bullying, treason, and imposing the president, and the second part is belittling our candidate. What we are doing is putting an end to the policy of imposition and treachery. We say to Hezbollah that if it wants to build a homeland, it must meet us halfway and concede about this imposition policy.”

“If Jihad Azour had reached the presidency in the last session, he would have met Hezbollah to form a government, and if Frangieh had arrived, Al Hezb would have done everything to make his era a success. From here, does Hezbollah want to build a pluralistic homeland with all its children, or build a homeland according to its desires? And this is what we disagree with it about, as it imposes its decisions with a surplus of force and weapons, and I call on the Shiite community to express its concerns, and let us sit with each other because the outside cannot reassure all the sects in Lebanon without the national agreement,” Gemayel continued.

"Lebanon has ruled with equality between sects since the nineteenth century, and it has lived by parity in all departments, especially the free judiciary, which was the first in the Arab world, and that is because of the real equality, not bullying and determination of fate by the force of arms,” he pointed out.

"I will never change my positions on Hezbollah, as I consider it a terrorist, but I want to build a homeland with my partners in the homeland, and I go to my Shiite partner, with whom I am equal in my Lebanese identity, and ask him to return to Lebanon, away from any external influence, so that we can build a homeland,” he went on saying.

“For me, federalism is a mean, not a solution. It is a mean to reach the state and true governance. As for the concept of decentralization, attention must be paid to points of view, and opinions cannot be followed at all. But if development and governance are established through real decentralization, even if it helps the development of regions in a fair way, through competition between regions, for development, let it be, and therefore it is also a means. I also consider education to be a basis and all Lebanese should follow a unified educational system away from following divergent paths. If they want this, then let us go to partition, but we cannot remain in the same spot while everyone is pulling towards his own project,” he emphasized.

“The President of the Republic cannot be imposed by anyone, and Hezbollah does not want anyone to rule without it imposing politics, and we went with the name of Jihad Azour because we considered that Jumblatt had nominated him and Gebran had no objection. We also considered that we could meet with a larger number of colleagues in order to save the country. Azour is a good and a suitable person to meet the parties and through him, we are able to put Lebanon on the right track. This is why Hezbollah is likely to obstruct its path if it reaches over a period of years.”

Gemayel continued, "It is too early to talk about any different options, and our candidate today is Jihad Azour, and we will do everything to get him to the presidency, and if we are not able to do so, then the possibilities are wide open, and if it is not Ziad Baroud, he might be Khalil Karam or Fouad Barakat."

"I never thought of naming my son Bachir, but if God gave me a son then why not, and for me I work to secure a normal life for my daughter and I want to be by her side and support her and try to be myself with her. My wife's decision was to be away from the limelight to protect her family and herself from the political atmosphere and I respect her opinion. I consider that my children have the right to be raised in a normal environment like other children, and when they grow up, they will decide whether they want to go out into the public or not,” he noted.

Talking about his mother, he said: "She taught me a lot in life, and if I take some things in account, they must be the courage and the will to do anything. She is the one who never backed down and did not stop fighting. In my opinion, she is powerful and a role model, I salute her and respect her a lot. I tell her that I am going to stay the way she taught me, and what she sees of me in front of her is the result of her efforts, all the love for her.”