Throughout the past 70 years of Lebanon’s history, several Christian parties were founded but very few lasted or at least maintained an influent and stable political status.

The two largest Christian parties that were founded after the 1943 pact and that witnessed the Lebanese war were the Kataeb and the Lebanese Forces, respectively founded by Sheikh Pierre Gemayel and his son Sheikh Bashir Gemayel and nowadays led (the LF) by Dr.Samir Geagea.

Kataeb was founded in 1936 and was a fierce defender of Lebanon’s independance and sovereignty and the Christian community. It attracted thousands of suppoters before becoming the largest Christian party ever formed.
However, Sheikh Pierre Gemayel was the uncontested leader and he took solely the political decisions for the whole party, which is an unhealthy issue regardless of how wise and great this man was.

Antoine Najm expressed this thought in an article written in Massira 2 years ago, and quoted Sir Winston Churchill saying: “How miserable is a visionary man, for he sees that a disaster will hit its party (for ex) in 10 years, and that party is too blind to see it, and after 10 years pass and that disaster occurs, he d be suffering the most for he has anticipated this disaster 10 years earlier” .

I cannot but relate what happened to the Kataeb back then to what is happening in the LF and express the same worries, because we are witnessing a similar scenario whereas the party is in the hands of one person and the visionary men calling for reforms and changes, similary to what Maurice Gemayel, a true visionary used to do, are being marginalized and put aside.

Dr.Najm back then expressed his thoughts to Joseph Abi Khalil, asking him what would happen to the Kataeb if Sheikh Pierre died ? specially after the serious accident Pierre had and was lucky enough to stay alive after it.

Similarly, what if Hakim has an unfortunate accident and dies ? What would happen to the LF ? Is it acceptable to keep the LF in the hands of one person ?

The issue here is not about doubting Hakim’s ability to run the LF and take the wise decisions since his history and great achievements speak for themselves. However the issue is about an institution that should be run by the LF militants in a democratic matter, because linking the party’s future to one person is a very risky issue and could lead to severe and fatal consequences and we have already witnessed the loss of Bashir Gemayel and how much it weakened the LF and the whole Christian community.

What should be done ?

A large convention should be organized where all militants are invited to participate to discuss a plan of work that will assure the party’s continuity for the future, and will not be dependant on individuals.

The title of this paper should be :
“Better Organization for more efficiency.”

A committe should be put in charge of organizing the event and leading the talks and should judge the party from an objective view in order to come out with a professional and fruitfull paper.The points that need to be handled are as follows:

- Self critique of the party and accountability study to evaluate the financial status.
- Evaluating the current political situation and the party’s capabilities.
- Setting long term political goals for the party.
- Writing a plan of action to achieve the needed goals.

We dont need dedicated leaders with uncontested powers.
We cannot depend on one person to lead us and be blind followers.

We should become a democratic institution whereas all militants vote for their president and interact with each others and the leadership and influence the political decisions and main streams taken by the party.

The Kataeb back then did not listen to Antoine Najm nor Maurice Gemayel and was doomed the day Sheikh Pierre died, and this could happen to the LF in few years if we dont start working on building an institution and not a one man party.

The Kataeb back then lost a golden opportunity to change and adjust itself without stepping away from its principles. However the only factor responsible for this mistake was the leadership’s selfishness that refused to form a strong committee to reassure continuity for the future. Sheikh Pierre used to say “je veux des donneurs de sang et non des donneurs d’idees”.
I disagree because the minds are the ones that forge the future of any party.

The LF will never mature if it stays this way and its not a financial or personal matter that should stand on its way. This article is not simply a call for the LFers but mainly for the LF and Christian youth to learn from others’ mistakes and form and join parties based on strong belief and commitment, not on worshipping the leader.