Reduced Turnout for Lebanese Forces Diaspora Conference… Intensifying Internal Divisions

Lebanon Today

According to:

Information received from the United States of America indicates that the annual conference of the “Lebanese Forces” party in the diaspora, which was held this year in the state of Chicago, was not at the same level as previous conferences in terms of attendance, good organization, and general enthusiasm.

Through a quick look at the available photos, the weak participation and the modesty of the general scene are evident, despite the prior preparations and efforts made before the conference, in addition to the media polishing attempts that followed it.

The conference was held under the patronage of the party leader Samir Geagea, represented by MP Ghayath Yazbek, who personally attended Chicago, while Geagea appeared from Meerab via the “Zoom” application to deliver a speech to the participants. Despite the prior announcement of this appearance, it did not succeed in restoring the momentum that the Forces diaspora meetings had become accustomed to in recent years.

In this context, Geagea called on the attendees in his speech to appreciate the expatriate effort and give it the importance it deserves, considering that the movements of the diaspora, no matter how small, are what achieve great achievements at the party level as a whole.

In this part of Geagea’s speech, a source participating in the conference – while emphasizing not mentioning his name – believes that the party leader draws the attention of the diaspora to the importance of the small details they do, which can affect, if accumulated, the general image of the party. Accordingly, no matter how great the differences between us, they must disappear before the ultimate goal, which is to strengthen the presence of the “Lebanese Forces” as a united and effective political force in Lebanon and the diaspora, “especially if these differences are of a personal nature and have no ideological depth?” according to the source.

The participating member in the conference also attributes this increasing apathy and internal divisions, which have reached an advanced stage of exchanging shameful accusations on social media, which began about a year ago as an ordinary dispute, before escalating and expanding significantly as a result of the inability of Imad Wakim, the person directly responsible for the diaspora file, to find fair solutions, which allowed the crisis to worsen and spread.

He adds that the leakage of news of this dispute to traditional media and social media platforms has further complicated the situation, and each party has become presenting its narrative publicly without hesitation, noting that time is no longer in the party’s favor with the approach of the upcoming elections.

He concluded by calling on the party leader to address the issue personally and not rely on any other official, and to conduct a comprehensive reconciliation between the parties, warning that “significant groups of our comrades in the diaspora are about to hand over their party cards unless this crisis is addressed in a fair and comprehensive manner.”