“Lebanon Debate”
The celebration of declaring Patriarch Elias Al-Howayek blessed in Diman was not limited to the religious and national dimension, but rather carried among its details and scenes a series of political and family messages, which reflected remarkable changes in the Bcharre judiciary, and showed a contradiction between the brilliant presence of some figures and the dim popular and organizational absence of the “Lebanese Forces” party.
The most prominent scene is represented by the return of Mrs. Denise Tauk to Bcharre from the Broad Gate, after she, through her company “Denise Tauk Events,” organized the exceptional event, after years of staying away from organizing the “International Cedar Festivals” due to the dispute with her sister, MP Strida Tawk Geagea. President Joseph Aoun and First Lady Neama Aoun were seen offering her congratulations and praise for the effort made.
Regarding the family and political prank, attention was drawn to the heat of the meeting between Strida Geagea and her cousin, MP William Tawk, as the two exchanged greetings and kisses in front of the cameras, despite the previous political accusations that Strida leveled against Tawk, describing him as a “Trojan horse” for Hezbollah in Bsharri.
Observers believed that the scene of public reconciliation may represent the beginning of a retreat from political incitement rhetoric within the judiciary, after disagreements and mutual accusations led to an increase in the division between members of the family and the region.
On the other hand, a lackluster popular and organizational presence was recorded for the “Lebanese Forces” party, despite the celebration being held in Diman, within the Bsharri district, which is considered the party’s most prominent political stronghold.
No large-scale popular mobilization operation appeared, while the entry of the head of the “Forces” Party, Samir Geagea, and his wife into the celebration square appeared faint, and the chants welcoming them were limited to a limited number of attendees, contrary to what the party used to show on previous occasions within the judiciary.
Likewise, the cameras did not record any warm meeting between the President of the Republic, Geagea, and his wife, while Aoun’s greetings with a number of other politicians seemed more warm and friendly. Geagea had gone directly to the celebration square without passing through the patriarchal edifice, where the President of the Republic and Patriarch Bechara al-Rai were receiving political figures.
The observations extended to the billboards spread on the roads, as pictures of Strida and Geagea were raised that did not contain any clear reference to Patriarch Howayek or the occasion of the beatification, and seemed intended to highlight their political presence.
On the other hand, MP William Tawk raised signs congratulating the beatification of Al-Howayek, before holding a meeting inside the edifice with the President of the Republic, in the presence of Patriarch Al-Rahi, and presenting Aoun with a souvenir made of cedar wood.
The celebration was supposed to constitute an opportunity for the “Forces” to demonstrate a broad popular, organizational, and media presence, as the party did during the funeral of Patriarch Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, when it took control of the scene. However, this time he seemed more like a “shy guest” in his own home, at a time when the presence of other figures, including Gebran Bassil and Suleiman Franjieh, was more evident at the level of the ceremony and media coverage.
This scene raises questions about the reasons for the forces’ apathy towards an event linked to a figure who laid the foundations for the “Greater Lebanon” project: Is it due to disagreement with Al-Howayek’s political legacy, in light of the return to reviving federal proposals, or to Strida Geagea’s dissatisfaction with the role that her sister played in organizing the event, and with her good relations with the church and the Republican Palace, amid a family dispute that has been going on for about a decade?
In both cases, the political compass of the “Forces” seemed absent from a pivotal national and Christian station, which raises a question about how the party that presents itself as the largest Christian party fell into such lapses, and at the heart of its political and popular arena.
