Bassil runs one last crusade in Aoun’s mandate

“Me against all. And all against me.” A few weeks before the end of his father-in-law’s six-year term in office, Gebran Bassil declares war on his political opponents, bringing out the heavy weapons, the threat of “constitutional chaos.”Weakened by the imminent departure of President Michel Aoun from the Baabda Palace and so far unable to make caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati bend, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement is aware that he is becoming an easier prey.Faced with what he perceives as a new quadripartite alliance — bringing together, in addition to Mikati, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Joumblatt and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea — Bassil seems ready to wage the ultimate battle for his political survival.Back in 2005, and in order to face the Christian tsunami resulting...