Strida Geagea: The option of negotiation is the result of the war into which the “Party” dragged us

MP Strida Geagea stressed that “what Lebanon is going through at this critical stage can no longer bear more grandstanding or populist rhetoric, which accumulated experience has proven has produced nothing but further collapse and devastation. From this standpoint, we in the Lebanese Forces Party, from our clear national position, affirm our full support for the efforts led by His Excellency President General Joseph Aoun to put an end to the ongoing war through a clear and frank negotiating path aimed, first and foremost, at protecting Lebanon and its people and re-establishing the state as the sole and final reference for all Lebanese.”

Geagea stressed that “the option of negotiation today is the result of the war that Hezbollah dragged us into in support of Iran, whose direct and indirect losses are estimated at between $150 million and $160 million per day.” She added: “In the face of the systematic campaign targeting His Excellency the President of the Republic and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, it is necessary to state the truth as it is, without equivocation or appeasement: what these two men are doing is a truly national act, because they are seeking, within the limits allowed by circumstances, to pull Lebanon out of the circle of fire and return it to the logic of the state and institutions. Patriotism is not measured by lofty slogans or media grandstanding, but by responsible political action that places Lebanon’s interest above any other consideration.”

She considered that “the Lebanese today stand at a clear crossroads: either a real state that monopolizes decision-making, sovereignty, and arms, or the continuation of chaos and disguised occupation that has brought the country to where it is today. The two options cannot be combined, because experience has shown that any settlement that does not radically address the issue of illegal weapons remains a fragile settlement, liable to collapse at the first test.”

MP Geagea made these remarks while chairing a meeting of the administrative الهيئة of the Cedar Mountain Foundation in Maarab, in the presence of former MP Joseph Ishaq, the foundation’s vice president Dr. Leila Geagea, treasurer Mukhtar Fadi Chidiac, secretary attorney Mario Saab, certified public accountant Professor Fadi Eid, and MP Geagea’s aide Romanos Al-Shaar.

Those attending discussed the social and livelihood files that the foundation has been concerned with for years, affirming its continued commitment to social, medical, and educational assistance that helps ease the burdens on our people in the Bsharri district.

MP Geagea also presented to those present the engineering studies completed and submitted by Dar Al-Handasah for the construction of the Cedar Mountain Foundation’s center in the city of Bsharri.