Project Watan: Navigating Between the Spark of Beirut 1 and State-Led Negotiations

The Executive Board of Project Watan held its weekly meeting, chaired by MP Neemat Frem and attended by all members, to review the latest local and regional developments. The following statement was issued afterward:

• “The Board highlighted the ray of light revealed by the Beirut 1 Conference, both in the serious studies and proposals presented by Lebanese officials and the private sector, and in the clear investment intentions expressed by numerous Arab and international stakeholders.

This conference undoubtedly reflected a realistic model of the world that the Lebanese people seek and believe is achievable; a world shaped by creative Lebanese, resilient in the face of death, and firmly rooted in the culture of life – a culture incomparably stronger than that of darkness, despair, and death.

• Project Watan stressed the need to refer the expedited draft law submitted by the government directly to Parliament’s General Assembly for a vote, allowing expatriates to elect all 128 MPs, while extending the registration deadline until the end of the year. It has become clear that all efforts and mediations exhausted within parliamentary committees have led nowhere.

The Board reaffirmed that the government cannot hold partial elections that allow voting inside Lebanon while excluding Lebanese abroad, as such a move would expose the entire electoral process to an appeal before the Constitutional Council on the grounds of violating the principle of equality among Lebanese citizens.

It further warned of the risk of derailing the elections should the draft be sent back to committees, as constitutional deadlines may be consumed – after which the budget would be introduced, making legislation impossible and effectively paralyzing the entire electoral process.

• The Executive Board reaffirmed the soundness of Lebanon’s official proposal regarding negotiations and declared its full support, especially after all attempts to liberate the territory, secure the release of detainees, demarcate borders, launch reconstruction, and halt aggressions have failed.

The Board stressed that the fundamental pillar of this entire path is that the sole and exclusive negotiator – both declared and undeclared – must be the Lebanese State, which exercises control over the territory and holds a monopoly over weapons through its legitimate armed forces. The Board warned that if this equation is not safeguarded, Lebanon risks shifting from a painful reality to a catastrophic one – threatening both its near and distant future.”