MP Alain Aoun during an address to Parliament in May 2018. (Credit: Parliament Flickr account)
BEIRUT — The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) announced on Friday the dismissal of MP Alain Aoun from its ranks.
"Based on two recommendations issued by the [FPM] Council of Elders headed by [former] President General Michel Aoun, the first on April 18 and the second on May 13, the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil, signed a decision to dismiss MP Alain Aoun from the FPM", read the statement released by the party's Central Committee for Media and Communication.
According to the party, he has "failed to appear before the Council of Elders several times and insisted on his position, refusing to discuss the party violations he committed."
The FPM said that MP Aoun violated the party's "decisions and directives at the political, organizational and media levels."
"The FPM President waited for a very long time before taking any decision in the hope that MP Aoun would retreat from committing violations, including his repeated failure to commit to the party's decision in the presidential electoral session of June 14, 2023," the statement continued.
As a result, Bassil "signed the dismissal decision in respect for the internal regulations ... and to preserve the unity and dignity of the movement."
In the electoral session of June 14 last year, the FPM, along with other political parties including the Lebanese Forces, voted for former minister Jihad Azour.
The FPM added, in its statement, that "respect for freedom of opinion is enshrined in the movement ... but it stops at the limits of the unity of the movement and the party's commitment to its decisions."
"The loss of any activist from the movement is a painful loss, especially if the activist has been a deputy for years ... but the most important thing is to eliminate the dangers of fragmentation and chaos in the movement, no matter the cost."
Finally, the statement indicated that MP Elias Bou Saab was also dismissed from the party on March 6 this year based on a recommendation issued by the same Council of Elders on July 26, 2023, after he violated the provisions of the internal regulations and failed to abide by the directions of the party. According to the statement, Bou Saab also "acknowledged that he voted against the movement's decision in the presidential electoral session of June 14, 2023."