The leader of the Free Patriotic Current Gebran Bassil. (Credit: AFP archive photo)
BEIRUT — The leader of the Free Patriotic Movement Gebran Bassil is currently in Paris for a visit "by his own initiative," a diplomatic source told L'Orient-Le Jour.
According to the source, France considers Bassil "a key figure in the presidential file, as he chairs a large Christian parliamentary group."
The Lebanese al-Markaziya agency said the Aounist leader will hold a series of meetings in the French capital, without giving further details. FPM refrained from commenting on this trip.
This visit comes on the eve of the sixth parliamentary session to elect a successor to Michel Aoun, whose term expired Oct. 31, and as the country is facing its first-ever double vacancy at the level of the presidency and the government.
Najib Mikati's caretaker cabinet has been managing current affairs since May 22, following the parliamentary elections. Although he has never made his candidacy official, Gebran Bassil is considered a presidential candidate, given that he is a Maronite and heads one of the two biggest Christian blocs in Parliament.
Bassil did not attend last Thursday's parliamentary session to elect a new head of state due to a trip to Qatar, about which few details were revealed.