The leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil, during a press conference at Forum de Beyrouth on April 9, 2022. (Credit: Archive photo taken from the Tayyar.org website)
BEIRUT — The leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil, admitted on Sunday that he is “worried about the Mar Mikhael agreement” which in 2006 sealed the political alliance between his party and Hezbollah. Relations between the two parties have become increasingly strained, especially since the end of the presidential mandate of ex-president and FPM founder Michel Aoun on Oct. 31.
Bassil also announced that he could run himself as a presidential candidate given lack of agreement on another candidate, at a time when Hezbollah is still keen to elect the leader of the Marada Movement Sleiman Frangieh, according to some observers.
The army's commander-in-chief, Joseph Aoun, has also been suggested as a potential consensus candidate, an option openly rejected by the head of the FPM. Recently, Hezbollah appears to be developing an openness to Joseph Aoun's potential as such a candidate, as affirmed at the beginning of January by Ibrahim Amin al-Sayed, a senior leader in the party. However, Hezbollah seems to want to exhaust all possibilities of having Frangieh elected before formally considering any other candidate.
'Question Marks'
"We agree with Hezbollah on the 'Resistance,' but that is not enough because there is disagreement on the priority of building a state," Bassil admitted in a lengthy speech. “We are starting to have question marks about respect for the partnership,” he added. For the FPM leader, "priorities may diverge, but none can rise above the need to build a state when the state [risks] disappearing."
"Some, including myself in the lead, are worried about the Mar Mikhael agreement. Some are making sure that the disagreement grows and that the situation explodes," Bassil said, without naming those to whom he was referring. “I am speaking to those who are afraid for the country and want to preserve it: what can we still do?” he asked.
A Hezbollah delegation visited the FPM headquarters in Sin al-Fil last Monday for a first meeting between the two allies after weeks of tensions. While the meeting may be seen as a first step on the way to a return to normal bilateral relations disturbed since the end of Michel Aoun's mandate, it risks being only a formal exercise. The two parties do not appear willing to make concessions capable of bridging the gap that has opened between them in relation to the presidential election: Hezbollah continues to support Frangieh's candidacy, an option Bassil categorically rejects. There is also the matter of the parties' differences over the holding of meetings of the caretaker cabinet during the presidential vacuum.
The FPM leader also opined that it "seems the 'Resistance' [Hezbollah] still isn't convinced that what protects it from being stabbed in the back is the fact that everyone is huddled around it, and not only his own entourage."
"It is not enough for a president to not stab the Resistance in the back. A president must not stab any Lebanese in the back. However, his function cannot be reduced to that," Bassil added.
Since last November, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has been advocating for the election of a head of state "who will not betray the 'Resistance,' plot against it or stab it in the back."
Presidential candidacy
Bassil has also announced that he could stand as a presidential candidate. "The FPM has prepared the draft of a preliminary list of candidates … and we have started contacts with deputies and parliamentary groups," he said. "We are reaching out to everyone, and calling for dialogue, bilaterally or collectively, or through any other form, so that there is agreement on a program that can be easily implemented and on a reduced list of candidates so that one of them is chosen, or at least that a vote is carried out among these names," he continued.
The head of the FPM thus launched "a call for rapprochement," assuring that he would approach "anyone who cooperates and responds positively to any attempt in this direction."
"If we do not find a solution, we will later study the possibility of accepting any candidate who has a majority, provided that the parliamentary groups which support him implement, before his election, reforms which are not linked to the FPM but which serve the interest of the Lebanese," Bassil said.
"If both of these attempts fail … I will seriously consider running for president, regardless of whether I might win or lose, in order to at least preserve the right to be represented," he said.
Presidential 'without the Christians'
Last Wednesday, Bassil pleaded in Bkirki for a dialogue under the leadership of the Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai in order to break the political impasse. However, the head of the Maronite church does not appear particularly favorable to holding an inter-Christian dialogue table under his leadership. Bassil also indicated that "it is a stroke of madness, political and national, to think that we can elect a president without Christians." Meanwhile, the Shiite parties Amal and Hezbollah have shown their willingness to support Frangieh if he manages to obtain 65 votes out of the 128 votes in Parliament, even without the support of the two largest Christian parties, namely the FPM and the Lebanese Forces led by Samir Geagea.
Bassil also attacked the commander-in-chief of the Lebanese Army who, according to him, "breaks the laws concerning defense [of the country] and accountability, forcibly monopolizes the prerogatives of the defense minister and does what he wants with the possessions and the millions available to the army."
On Thursday, the daily newspaper Al-Akhbar, had reported remarks by caretaker Defense Minister Maurice Slim, who is close to the FPM, in which he accused Joseph Aoun of overstepping his prerogatives, and threatened to "ask the cabinet to dismiss him" if he continued to "exceed the limits." However, the next day, the minister denied these remarks during a visit to Patriarch Rai.
Attack on Riad Salameh
Concerning the deepening economic crisis in Lebanon, Bassil criticized the governor of the Banque du Liban (BDL) Riad Salameh, who is the subject of several investigations in Europe for financial wrongdoing. “The governor of the BDL governs the country financially. He is the leader of a gang as the French judiciary has described him. He is a money launderer, who has embezzled state and corporate funds. [He is a] Lebanese, who is fleeing justice …. He manipulates the [exchange rate of the lira against the] dollar, in order to steal people's money," Bassil said.
The FPM leader concluded by pleading for a resumption of the investigation into the Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut port explosion and called on the Higher Judicial Council to "quickly find a solution so that justice takes its course." The country's top prosecutor, Ghassan Oueidat, reputed to be close to several political groups within the ruling class, decided on Wednesday to release all the suspects detained in the investigation, including the former director of customs, Badri Daher, who is close to the FPM. He also initiated proceedings against the judge in charge of the investigation, Tarek Bitar. Oueidat's decisions have angered the families of port explosion victims, who demonstrated in the streets on Thursday.
