On Sunday, Zahleites will head to the polls in municipal elections that were originally intended to focus on local development. Instead, the vote has been transformed into a political battleground where nearly every means, fair or foul, is being deployed.

In recent weeks, the Kataeb Party has been subjected to an unprecedented and unjust smear campaign. The attacks have escalated to outright slander, targeting the party’s legacy and resorting to vulgar, offensive language aimed at its members and local leadership.

Setting aside the noise and disinformation, it is important to recall a few facts, although they’re recent enough that they should not need repeating. Still, given the short memory of some, we feel compelled to set the record straight.

From the beginning of negotiations to form an electoral list for the municipal race, Kataeb showed openness and good faith. It naturally saw its closest partner as the Lebanese Forces. Yet, instead of being met with the same openness, it was faced with utter disregard, as though negotiating with Kataeb was a burden to be hastily brushed aside in favor of other arrangements. Still, the party pressed on in good faith, assuming that perhaps this was just a matter of political posturing.

Even after the Lebanese Forces allied with Mrs. Myriam Skaff, a move loaded with difficult historical implications for Kataeb, especially given the blood of two martyrs that still marks that chapter, the party continued along the same path of constructive engagement. But the other side made no effort to preserve the alliance. On the contrary, there appeared to be a deliberate decision to exclude Kataeb in favor of other political priorities.

Faced with that reality, Kataeb, an integral part of Zahle’s social and political fabric, chose a different path. It accepted an offer from another group with which it shares no ideological or political conflict. In fact, it joined forces with a group that shares its political red lines, which were respected to the letter. Everyone knows this.

This temporary divergence was never seen by Kataeb as a  full-blown political rupture. Rather, it was a tactical and friendly split, set to end Sunday evening. After the vote, the natural allies will return to their shared cause and continue working together on greater and more significant battles.

Two critical points must be noted here.

First, when the alliance broke down, the Lebanese Forces chose to align with another political faction in Zahle. They chose to sacrifice the Kataeb to please that faction. The Lebanese Forces is now going into the election alone, following a fallout with that same faction. Meanwhile, Kataeb had already given its word and commitment to a new alliance—two things it does not easily go back on.

Second, the party’s central leadership in Beirut granted complete freedom to its members in Zahle. The local team knows their city best, and the leadership did not intervene in any way, directly or indirectly, except to bless and support whatever decision the Zahle branch reached. This election was viewed for what it is: a local developmental matter, not a strategic political showdown, as some would now have the public believe.

But what has unfolded in recent days has become intolerable. The nonstop smear campaign, the flood of insults, and the relentless attempts to defame Kataeb demand a response, and, more importantly, an end.

It is also time to cool tempers. Populism and political mobilization should not come at Kataeb’s expense, especially not through fabricated rumors and falsehoods about alleged alliances with Hezbollah. Everyone, including Lebanese Forces supporters, knows such alliances are categorically out of question for Kataeb. And if “you’re either with us or with Hezbollah” is the standard, then it is the Lebanese Forces themselves who have undermined that logic, through their various alliances across districts, from Koura to Beirut.

Let us be clear: Kataeb has never sought to change Zahle’s identity. On the contrary, it is the party that has cemented that identity and defended it with blood—and continues to pay the price, even in recent days, while others run to make deals with those trying to erase it.

Finally, a word of advice, offered freely and in good faith. Using former Kataeb members to insult their old comrades on a shallow Zahle-based social media page is a poor and short-sighted investment. Those who once sold out their legacy for a handful of cash will just as easily sell you out, too—probably for even less.

This is the English adaptation of an article posted on kataeb.org;