AOUN AND GEMAYEL STAGE SIMULTANEOUS RALLIES, DRAWING THOUSANDS OF SUPPORTERS
By Hani M. Bathish

Daily Star, Lebanon

Aug 4 2007

Political rivals escalate war of words as campaigning reaches final
stage

BEIRUT: Thousands of orange-clad supporters of Free Patriotic Movement
leader MP Michel Aoun turned out in Dbayyeh for a huge campaign rally
Friday evening; while a separate rally was held simultaneously in
Antelias in support of Former President Amin Gemayel. Friday also
saw an escalation in the war of words and election rhetoric only
48 hours before tens of thousands are due to head to 348 polling
stations around Metn to fill the seat vacated by the assassinated
Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.

Aoun addressed the rally in Dbayyeh from behind a bullet proof shield
and dubbed his electoral opponents "windmills of lies" with nothing to
offer voters but lies and unfulfilled promises. "I will not call them
sons of snakes, but sons of rumors, and rumors are like a rootless
weed, once you pluck it out it dies," Aoun said of his opponents.

"They frighten you and tell you there will be trouble [Sunday],
we tell you have no fear, the army and security forces are there to
protect you and so are our [fists]," Aoun said, warning all those
who try to use violence, close roads or attack supporters Sunday,
adding that the Metn is a peaceful and civilized place.

"Our choice is that of peace for Lebanon, but not the peace of the
weak," Aoun said, adding that his electoral opponents thought the FPM
was weak when they tried to reach a consensus to avoid the electoral
battle. He said that not one of the government’s promises have been
met in the last two years.

At the rally in Antelias, Gemayel warned his opponents that "Metn
will never be a suburb of Damascus" building on anti-Syrian feelings
to warn the people of Metn that a vote for Aoun is a vote for the
return of Syrian tutelage.

"Ali Qanso pledged the support of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party
for Aoun, so did [Lebanese] Baath Party leader Assem Qanso, who said
the Baath Party and Aoun have one struggle," Gemayel said.

"Who will be happy with the FPM’s victory, except Damascus that is
trying to achieve a victory in Metn?"

Gemayel said that the people of Metn know that Aoun is dragging
them to a battle they do not want, adding that Aoun has betrayed the
trust of the people in Metn and that he did not consult anyone when
he chose his political path. He said that instead of being "a show
of faithfulness for the blood of the martyr" the electoral battle in
Metn has turned to a battle of "dancing over the blood of martyrs."

Addressing the FPM rally Friday, Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Murr
warned of the marginalization of the Christians and the presidency:
"Whoever votes for the FPM rejects this marginalization … we were
ready to go ahead with reconciliation, the other side refused and
blamed the FPM for rejecting the initiative … answer their rejection
with a ballot box full of votes."

Armenian Tashnag Party MP Hagop Pakradounian, also addressing the
FPM rally, said voting for the FPM candidate Sunday is a vote against
marginalization and for democracy: "We are here because we are free,
because we are faithful and reject marginalization, oppression and
injustice."

Free Patriotic Movement candidate in the Metn, Dr. Camille Khoury,
rejected claims made by his electoral opponent that he is only a
"figurehead" while FPM leader Aoun is the one running for election
in Metn. "I am the FPM candidate and in their name I am running for
election and with them I struggled for years against Syrian dominance
and occupation," Khoury told Voice of Lebanon radio Friday.

As for opponents’ claims that voting for Khoury is like voting to
return Lebanon to Syria, Khoury said: "It is well known who struggled
against the Syrian line over the past 15 years … We not only faced
the Syrians but many Lebanese who today claim to defend sovereignty
and independence and are among the ranks of March 14 but who made
deals with the Syrians to return to Lebanon."

Responding to accusations that he was a member of the Syrian Social
Nationalist Party before joining the FPM, Khoury said that he never
had any party affiliation until 1989 when he joined the struggle with
Aoun because he was convinced of his political line.

The FPM media committee issued a statement accusing "well-known
media organizations" of ripping posters of Gemayel, filming them and
blaming the vandalism on FPM members with the purpose of tarnishing
their image.

In an interview with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation’s Kalam
an-Nass program on Thursday evening, Gemayel explained his reasons
for rejecting the latest initiative aimed at avoiding an electoral
battle in Metn.

"All the points in the initiative carry the spirit of the opposition,
since it focused on contesting the legitimacy of the government
and that the by-elections are illegal, thus postponing elections,"
Gemayel said.

The former president added that the latest attempt at reaching
consensus over the Metn by-election did not originate from Bkirki. He
said there is no specific initiative from Patriarch Nasrallah Butros
Sfeir, only ideas that reached the patriarch who wrote them down and
passed them along to Gemayel.

Gemayel continued to receive supporters and well wishers at his home
in Bekfaya Friday, including Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea,
who said the Metn electoral battle would decide Lebanon’s destiny.

"I call on the people in Metn to save all of Lebanon by voting on
Sunday," Geagea told reporters after his meeting. "This electoral
battle has to do with the destiny of Lebanon … it is not aimed at
General Aoun nor at the young men and women of the FPM."