Gebran Bassil during an interview with L'Orient-Le Jour. (Credit: L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil said his party will participate in the Parliament's Thursday session to elect a new president, but will vote blank because "we don't have any candidate that we support now."
Speaking during a Wednesday press conference, Bassil also said FPM has "prepared a strategy to approach the presidential election in a different way, that we will talk about next week."
The FPM will join multiple parliamentary blocs that have already confirmed their attendance, meaning Parliament will reach quorum for Thursday's session.
Bassil is considered by political observers as a "natural" candidate for the presidency given his position as a Maronite Christian leader, but he hasn't made any official announcement.
Earlier this week, in an interview with Al Nahar newspaper, Bassil said that “being the next president of Lebanon is not part of [his] plan” and that Hezbollah cannot “force” him to vote for his rival, Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh. Both Frangieh and Bassil are Hezbollah allies.
The term of current President Michel Aoun, who is also Bassil's father-in-law, ends Oct. 31.
During the press conference, Bassil accused the head of the Higher Judicial Council Souheil Abboud of "corruption" and "abuse of power" in reaction to the judicial summoning of FPM MP Charbel Maroun. Maroun was summoned after calling Abboud "corrupted" during a protest.
According to Bassil, Maroun should enjoy immunity granted to "provide him with the right of freedom of expression of his beliefs and providing him with needed security to perform his duties." Bassil added that FPM sent a letter to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri explaining their legal case and informing him that Maroun will not attend his hearing session.
The head of the FPM also accused Abboud of obstructing the appointment of an alternate judge in the Beirut port blast investigation. FPM demanded the appointment of an alternate as investigating Judge Tarek Bitar is currently the target of several removal requests, while many detainee release requests remain pending.
Some detainees, including former Head of Customs Badri Daher, who is close to Aoun, have been detained since Aug. 2020. The Higher Judicial Council reportedly made the unanimous decision to appoint an alternate judge to Bitar; however, the name of this alternative is still not agreed upon.