November 13, 2026
As part of the preparations for the upcoming parliamentary elections, the leader of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, began making a series of possible amendments at the level of the party’s parliamentary representation, which included moving to replace MP Antoine Habashi with an advisor to the Minister of Energy, Boutros Hadchiti, who admires Geagea due to his performance in the ministry according to his own standards.
In order to pave the way for this nomination for the Maronite seat in Baalbek, the efforts of the “Lebanese Forces” party collided with categorical rejection within the Hadchiti family. Samir Geagea’s media advisor, Antoinette Geagea – given her mother’s affiliation to the family – made extensive contacts on behalf of the party leader, to influence the family’s notables and push them to choose Boutros Hadchiti as an alternative to the bearer of the traditional abaya, lawyer Aqeed Hadchiti, who is considered a political operative on the other side.
These moves were met with decisive rejection during a meeting of family elders held last Wednesday. Antoinette was subjected to sarcasm from her uncle, Hanna Hadchiti, who considered that she was promoting a personality that was not respected by the family. Hanna also directed sharp criticism at Boutros’s father, who was present at the meeting, reminding him of his past, the source of his wealth, and his imprisonment, and stressing the family’s refusal to be represented by someone of his level. The meeting ended by renewing confidence in lawyer Aqeed Hadchiti and re-dressing him in the traditional abaya, amidst the consensus of those present – despite the majority of them belonging to the “Lebanese Forces” – to refuse Boutros Hadchiti to represent them.
Sources indicate that the attempt to impose Boutros Hadchiti is closely linked to internal conflicts in the party, as MP Antoine Habashi is viewed coolly by MP Strida Geagea, who considers him a potential competitor for the leadership of the party in the future, given his wide popularity and strong partisan and tribal environment. In the same context, the director of the party president’s office, Elie Baraghid, expressed his satisfaction with the failure of the attempt to market Boutros Hadchiti, in light of the intersections of mutual score-settling between the two parties.
The coming days will reveal the repercussions of this failure on the electoral maps and the battle for the Maronite seat in the Baalbek district.
