On the Anniversary of Bashir’s Election as President of the Republic
Elias Bejjani/August 23, 2026
Today, as we proudly and resolutely commemorate the election of Sheikh Bashir Gemayel as President of the Lebanese Republic on August 23, 1982, we reaffirm, on the basis of a firm and steadfast faith, that Bashir’s dream is alive and will not die. It remains powerfully embodied in the determination of Lebanon’s sovereign and honorable youth, who have taken upon themselves the responsibility of carrying the torch of freedom, dignity, liberation, sovereignty, and independence through a peaceful and civilized approach that, God willing, will culminate in saving the Cedar Nation from the claws of the Iranian occupation, as well as from all Trojan horses, agents, traitors, and dhimmis, and in restoring its independence and freedom.
On August 22, 1982, Bashir Gemayel was elected President of the Lebanese Republic. President Reagan described him as “the young president who brought the light of hope to Lebanon.” The president who was characterized as “a strategic planner” and “a man whose positions crossed red lines” loved his country to such an extent that Lebanese people of all backgrounds and affiliations dreamed of and believed in his vision for the republic, in living with dignity and in peace. He infused the people with courage, boldness, and strength of will to demand and strive for the building of a “state of citizenship,” while preserving Lebanon as a “space of freedom” and a homeland worthy of sacrifice.
On this day in 1982, Bashir’s love for his country ignited the spirit of national belonging among all Lebanese and planted an eternal dream in the heart of every free Lebanese, both in the homeland and across the corners of the world. On the anniversary of Bashir’s election, every free and sovereign Lebanese is reminded that Bashir—the cause, which is Lebanon’s cause—will never die, for he whose supporter is God cannot be overcome.
It is true that the forces of evil and darkness succeeded in assassinating Bashir the man, but they failed to kill Bashir the cause, who continues to live in the hearts, conscience, and spirit of every free Lebanese. Bashir the cause, Bashir the dream, Bashir of coexistence, Bashir of commitment to the state, the law, the constitution, freedoms, democracy, and coexistence—this Bashir lives in the minds and culture of every sovereign and free Lebanese. This Bashir will not die.
Bashir, whose body was killed in 1982, remains alive through his memory and through his example and model of patriotism and integrity, living in hearts, conscience, culture, dreams, and hope. Meanwhile, the majority of today’s leaders and politicians, though physically alive, are in practice and in terms of respect and trust, dead in their faith, minds, greed, and Judas-like betrayal. Their presence is an absence, and their absence is a relief and a blessing.
Returning to the memory of the assassination on the Feast of the Holy Cross, on September 13, 1982, the hand of hateful treachery reached out and killed Bashir the man. Yet it failed to kill Bashir the cause, ambition, patriotism, vision, thought, and the spirit of resistance.
