The “Beirut Needs a Heart” electoral list, headed by MP Fouad Makhzoumi, held a press conference at the Seaside Hall in BIEL to announce its candidates and electoral platform. In attendance were the list’s members, political, media, and social figures, businesspeople, members of the “Beirut Needs a Heart” campaign’s electoral team, and a large gathering of supporters and advocates of MP Makhzoumi’s political approach and the list’s candidates.
In his speech, MP Makhzoumi said: “Four years ago, around this very time, we fought and were fought against. We challenged the establishment of corruption and illegal arms, rejected its attempts to bargain with us, and refused to compromise. The people of Beirut placed their trust in us.”
He stressed that they would neither stop nor lose hope, but would continue their work with a list composed entirely of forces for change, comprising 11 candidates ready to serve and representing a wide range of professional backgrounds. He explained that they were united by a clear platform whose priorities included placing all weapons under the authority of the Lebanese state, ensuring judicial independence, addressing the financial and economic situation, and recovering looted funds. “Yes, we can recover them,” he affirmed.
Makhzoumi continued: “We want Hezbollah’s weapons disarmed.” He emphasized that Lebanon was neither poor nor bankrupt, but rather a country that had been looted, adding that its greatest wealth was its young men and women.
He stressed the need to return Lebanon to its Arab embrace and free it from the influence of Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist). He called on citizens to turn out in large numbers for the elections on May 15, arguing that anyone who failed to vote would be serving the interests of the militia.
He asked: “Do you want Beirut to preserve its dignity, or do you want a second May 7?” He concluded by saying: “We want a parliamentary bloc so that we can bring investors back and launch the reform process. ‘Be strong, vote for Beirut—Beirut Needs a Heart!’”
It is worth noting that the list includes the following candidates:
- Sunni seats: MP Fouad Makhzoumi, lawyer Hassan Kashli, Karim Shbaklo, Nabil Naja, Mazen Shbaro, and Abdul Latif Itani.
- Evangelical seat: Omar DabAghi.
- Druze seat: Zeina Mounzer.
- Shiite seats: Lina Hamdan and Oulfat Al-Sabaa.
- Greek Orthodox seat: Zeina Majdalani.
