FPM to the Lebanese Forces: Yesterday you obstructed the Chabrouh project... and today you celebrate its completion!

The Keserwan al-Ftouh district body of the Free Patriotic Movement issued the following statement:

It appears that some political forces — such as the Lebanese Forces — are no longer content with appropriating the discourse, but have now moved on to trying to appropriate achievements as well.

In a scene worthy of being taught in the art of contradiction, the environmental project in Chabrouh — which yesterday was said to require halting works and activities in order to protect the water — has been turned into a platform for an official celebration, and into an “achievement” being marketed to public opinion as though it had just been born.

So what kind of achievement is this? Is the achievement to block the project first, then return later to inaugurate it? What paradox is this? And what contempt for people’s memory turns the very same project into a danger when it is the fruit of others’ efforts, and into an achievement worthy of celebration when it becomes material for political investment? And how does the mayor — who is supposed to be responsible and entrusted with the truth — proceed to sideline the real maker of the achievement? The mayor bears full political and moral responsibility for this scene. He was under no obligation to sponsor an inauguration based on erasing the project’s history, nor was he compelled to provide municipal cover for a narrative that ignores the true owners of the achievement. He should have sided with the truth, but instead chose to side with a particular political scene. This choice does not offend his political opponents alone; it first and foremost undermines the credibility of the municipal office, which is supposed to stand above alignments, not serve as a tool in their favor.

Lebanese in general, and the people of Keserwan al-Ftouh in particular, have not forgotten the truth. The project to develop the surroundings of the Chabrouh Dam and establish the sustainable environmental trail was not born under this current term, was not written in a press release, and was not invented in a moment of spectacle. It is a project that was placed within an integrated development vision of the Free Patriotic Movement, and former Energy Minister and MP Nada Boustani made tireless efforts on this project. She also launched a clear path for sustainable environmental investment around the dam, in cooperation with municipalities, the relevant authorities, and the La Keserwan association, under request No. 2066/W dated 24/6/2024.

But it seems that promises of LF achievements have become quixotic, and so the “wise party” sees in the state nothing more than an opportunity to reaffix its signature to what others have accomplished.

It is a familiar policy: obstruction when the achievement belongs to the FPM, and inauguration when it is time for the photo opportunity. More dangerous still is that those who raised the banner of prevention yesterday are today raising the banner of celebrating the very same project, without even bothering to explain this reversal — as though the Lebanese do not keep documents, do not read, and do not remember.

Those who do not possess a record of initiatives will not make a history for themselves through the political seizure of others’ initiatives. Achievement is not measured by the number of populist tweets, nor by the number of ribbons cut, nor by the number of photos published. Real achievement is measured by who possessed the vision when it was absent, made the decision when others hesitated, and put the project on track before the spotlight seekers arrived to take the commemorative photo.

And history is not written by the one who cuts the final ribbon, but by the one who laid the first stone.

As for political showboating on others’ projects, it will not turn plagiarism into achievement, nor spectacle into history. Those who write history do not need to re-sign it… and those incapable of creating achievement will not be granted the title of its maker by inauguration ceremonies.