NNA - Lebanese Kataeb Party Chief, MP Sami Gemayel, affirmed today that his party shall continue its ongoing struggle in defense of Lebanon, its sovereignty, freedom and the wellbeing of its people.

Speaking during his patronage of a Kataeb honoring ceremony for the party's northern Metn branch, he said: "We will not accept to be vilified or marginalized as second class citizens....This will not happen, and whoever wants us to live in humiliation must expect our confrontation with all means available to us."

"There are those who are trying today to take all the decisions on our behalf...There are those who believe that they have the right to own militias and fight alone without others, and they wish to choose the president of the republic without referring to anyone, and to decide the form of government and Lebanon's alliances against everyone's will, and to wage wars with others without involving anyone in the decision..."

He added: "What we are asking for is our participation in the decision, and for there to be equality and respect for partnership in Lebanon."

Gemayel emphasized the need for true and equal partnership between various Lebanese components, saying: "We extend our hand to building a democratic, civilized, free, sovereign and independent state, and we call on everyone to join the project of the state."

He demanded that the Lebanese army be the only side to possess weapons in the country and that the constitution be respected as the basis for joint cooperation and collaboration between all the Lebanese. 

Recalling the Kataeb party's s great and heroic contributions to Lebanon's history and political life, Gemayel assured that the long legacy left behind by the late Pierre Gemayel, "prompts us daily to review our options for the benefit of Lebanon, and therefore, we do not compromise or make mistakes and the sacrifices that were made are the daily engine of all our decisions and positions."

==========R.Sh.