The Lebanese forces party Chief, Samir Geagea, handed in the first batch of cards to the Party affiliated members in Akkar region, during a ceremony at the headquarters in Mearab, attended by: Deputy Dr. Fadi Karam, Party Chief advisor retired Brigadier General Wehbe katisha, resigning Secretary General Dr. Fadi Saad, Assistant Secretary of the Administration Affairs in the Lebanese Forces Party lawyer Fadi Zarifeh, Coordinator of The Lebanese Forces Party in Akkar Dr. Nabil Sarkis, and a gathering of the region residents.
The Lebanese Forces Party Chief said: “the ceremony of the Party cards distribution to Akkar region is characterized by a special flavor, first, Because Akkar is tormented, abandoned and neglected for a long time, and secondly because it is the first mixed region where we have Muslims comrades who receive the affiliation cards”.
He added: “many people wondered: why don’t you accept Muslims in the LF Party”? To those I reply: “you don’t know that the Lebanese Forces have a long time ago till now, Muslims in their ranks. During the war, dozens of Muslims comrades fought beside us to defend the same principles, thus, the Lebanese Forces have never been a sectarian organization, contrary to what some are trying to propagate. Many people in Lebanon confuse between someone’s religion and politics. I remember nearly eight years ago, when the Christian Maronite General Emile Lahoud was a President of the Republic, and The sunni Muslim Fouad Siniora was a Prime Minister, I was repeatedly saying, with all conviction that Siniora, with his behavior in the Government, represents me much more than the Maronite President does, the way he was acting as a President of the Republic”.
He noted that “some interprets the religious symbols the LF use by his own way, to end up to wrong conclusions. To us, these symbols are not religious symbols, in the exclusive religious meaning in so far as they were reflecting at that stage the values that we, Christians and Muslims, faced to incarnate in Lebanon”, citing what “the Maronite patriarch Elias hoayek did to build the nation of “Greater Lebanon” for Christians and Muslims alike, as well as many Christian and Muslim leaders who worked to have this country to all of us. It is true that the LF have specific symbols which make some think that they are a sectarian organization, but they have many actions which prove that they are a really distinctive national organization”.
Geagea reaffirmed That “The affiliation card that you receive today is not an administrative measure, even if it is, but it is a great responsibility as it carries with it the history of Lebanon, sacrifices of thousands of martyrs and 11 years of imprisonment for all of us, as well as it carries 14 March values and struggles, and a momentum in our modern history because it started before March 14, continues with it, and will continue with March 14 forever”.
He pointed out that “Akkar is a rich region, but at the same time neglected, so it needs, more than any other region, a real political action which can be achieved only through parties. You have chosen the right way by joining a party and through you I call upon all Akkar citizens to join any party they find suitable, because only the major parties and policies can save Akkar and the nation from its great crises”.
Geagea concluded: “it is true that in peacetime we are the hand that builds, but, at the time of danger, we are Forces…”
