BEIRUT: Cousins Sami and Nadim Gemayel have much in common: They are both lawmakers – Sami represents Metn and Nadim is an MP for Beirut – and sons of former Lebanese presidents.

And now, the two are expected by many to compete with each other for influence within the Kataeb (Phalange) Party.

While several sources from the Kataeb Party deny any rivalry between Sami and Nadim, they allow that there is some “constructive competition.”

Nadim was not fully involved in Kataeb politics until being elected as MP in the 2009 parliamentary elections.

Shortly before taking office in 1982, and four months after Nadim was born, President-elect Bachir Gemayel, Nadim’s father, was assassinated in Ashrafieh.

In a news conference Monday, Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel told The Daily Star that democratic elections took place in a transparent manner last month and the party remains a stage for all opinions.

Last month, more than 350 Kataeb members elected 16 new members for the party’s political bureau.

“When there is a decision by the party agreed upon by the politburo … the party leader announces it and that becomes the official party stance,” said Gemayel.

As the more outspoken of the cousins, and son of former President Amin Gemayel, Sami became more deeply involved in Kataeb politics after the assassination of his brother, Pierre Gemayel, in 2006.

In the wake of the March 14 revolution in 2005, Sami, wary of the traditional Lebanese parties, set out to establish the organization Loubnanouna, or “Our Lebanon,” with several other Lebanese activists.

But “political necessities and developments in the country following the assassination of his older brother drove Sami back to the Kataeb Party,” a high-ranking source in the party told The Daily Star.

According to the source, Sami has also built a bigger constituency than Nadim in the party. “This was clear in last month’s party elections,” the source told the Daily Star Monday.

The source said that four candidates for Kataeb’s top office were supported by Nadim, but only one of them won.

But, “There are no serious problems between Nadim and Sami … each of them has an important role within the party and Nadim would remain uncontested by other party members in Ashrafieh,” the source explained, in reference to Nadim’s position as lawmaker for Beirut.

But tight competition is likely to continue behind the doors of the party between the two young lawyers.

Sami, 31, graduated with a degree in law from Saint Joseph University, while 29-year-old Nadim received his law degree from Pantheon-Assas Paris II University.

Speaking to The Daily Star over the telephone, Nadim refused to comment on any rivalry with Sami. “Our relations are within the institutions of the Kataeb Party,” said Nadim.

Former Minister of Social Affairs and Kataeb Party member, Salim Sayegh, also denied that there is any polarization within the party.

“Competition has always existed in the Kataeb Party and the competition today is not limited to between two individuals,” said Sayegh.

According to Sayegh, there is competition between strong personalities in Kataeb, but the party only has one leader.