BEIRUT: Lebanese officials praised the late Pierre Amine Gemayel over the weekend as part of the annual commemoration of the assassinated minister.

“This is an occasion to remember that there are people who challenged us and tried to kill us and kill the spirit in the Kataeb Party and the hopes of Lebanese people by assassinating a young men who represented great hope. But I will work day and night so that Pierre’s dream remains alive in any person and especially the Kataeb,” MP Sami Gemayel, Pierre’s younger brother, told Voice of Lebanon.

“To whoever killed Pierre I say this: You can assassinate the person but you cannot kill his dream. This is the only thing you will not be able achieve, not even after 100 years. When we say Pierre is alive in us, this isn’t merely an expression but a reality because Pierre’s cause did not die, nor did his dream,” Sami Gemayel added.

Head of the Future Movement MP Saad Hariri, whose father former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated in 2005, praised Pierre Gemayel and said his assassination had been an attempt to strike at the independence movement in Lebanon, hoping to crush it.

“When the criminal killers succeeded in assassinating Pierre Amine Gemayel five years ago, they knew that they were directing a strong blow to the independence movement in Lebanon, and they were betting on hitting the leadership of this movement in order to crush it,” former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who described Gemayel as a “brother,” said Sunday, according to a statement from his office.

“[Gemayel] represented the dreams and hopes that we shared in order to draft the new future of Lebanon. Other martyrs of freedom and independence also fell for the same dreams. However, the [methods] of killing and terrorism haven’t been able to extinguish their flames,” Hariri added.

“Rest in peace Pierre, my brother, friend and companion of the difficult days, because justice will surely prevail.”

Throughout the day the Kataeb Party’s radio station was flooded with messages of praise of the young minister from politicians from across the political divide.

“I was astonished by the speed that Minister Pierre Gemayel could comprehend matters to do with production. He was a truly promising individual,” Economy Minister Nicholas Nahhas told Voice of Lebanon.

“Pierre wasn’t an ordinary colleague even though I only knew him for a short time. He was a protector for many Lebanese and we used to see in him a man with a prominent future in Lebanese politics and this is why he was assassinated,” Future Movement MP Ahmad Fatfat said for his part.

“I used to provide him security information about the dangers of his frequent movements and I had called him minutes before his assassination,” he added.

Gemayel, the son of former President Amine Gemayel, was assassinated in November 2006 in broad daylight by a group of masked gunmen in Jdeideh.

A prominent figure in the movement calling for the departure of the Syrian army from Lebanon – dubbed the “Cedar Revolution” – Gemayel took on the Industry Ministry portfolio under the Cabinet of former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

Speaking to the Kataeb radio station, MP Marwan Hamadeh, who at the time was a colleague of Gemayel under the Siniora Cabinet and survived an assassination attempt himself, described the young politician as a reservoir of patriotism and wisdom and “possessed an understanding of the conspiracies facing Lebanon.”

“Minister Pierre Gemayel is still with us despite his martyrdom and we are still fighting his fight for the sovereignty and independence of Lebanon,” MP Michel Pharaon told the radio station.

For his part, former Minister Wiam Wahab said Pierre Gemayel was able to propel the Kataeb Party, and particularly the Christian community, “even his rivals looked on him with respect.”

A commemoration ceremony in Gemayel’s memory was held at St. Antonio Church in Jdeideh and was attended by his wife and children, brother and father, as well as political figures such as Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, head of the Future Movement parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Siniora and representatives of President Michel Sleiman, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati. U.S. Ambassador Maura Connelly also attended the ceremony.

Speaking earlier Sunday, May Chidiac, a former news anchor who survived an assassination attempt on her life in September 2005, said: “There is no replacing Pierre Gemayel. He was able to move from one place to another and this is what frightened them but they failed to assassinate him because what he and his friends instilled in us is still with us.”

“Pierre died physically but Pierre’s path and principles will remain and we remain true to these principles,” Batroun MP Butros Harb told the station.