President Gemayel’s imminent visit to the South set to take place at the end of this week cannot be considered as circumventing the much-anticipated dialogue between Hizbullah and the Future Movement nor a part of efforts being deployed to end the presidential impasse. In fact, the distinctive aspect that Gemayel has chosen for his party exceeds these two issues, although it intersects with each one way or another.
The Lebanese Kataeb party has always been open to dialogue with the March 8 camp; it has never opted for riot or violence, favoring common sense over the fiery political rhetoric that others had resorted to.
The Kataeb’s vision consists in developing the political system, outlining the need for decentralization in order to genuinely guarantee basic rights and freedoms to all constituencies and, therefore, constructively manage Lebanon’s cultural pluralism. The party believes that freedom in Lebanon owes its existence, above all, to a free and open Christian community that bestowed upon Lebanon its liberal character from which other communities have benefited.