Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil in the Chamber, on July 16, 2025. (Credit: Ali Fawaz/Lebanese Parliament)
"Don't worry. It's well-studied and well-calculated. When the government makes mistakes, we'll be there." These comments by Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), made after last Wednesday's parliamentary confidence vote in the government, sum up his outlook ahead of the upcoming legislative elections scheduled for May 2026. The leader of the FPM knows that the Nawaf Salam cabinet won't fall before the elections — or at least not soon — regardless of how harsh the criticism gets, since no one currently has a reason to push that hard.All the more so as the international community is closely scrutinizing those in power. This reality leaves Bassil with little choice but to play the opposition card to the fullest against the Joseph Aoun–Nawaf Salam duo, but above all against his main Christian...
"Don't worry. It's well-studied and well-calculated. When the government makes mistakes, we'll be there." These comments by Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), made after last Wednesday's parliamentary confidence vote in the government, sum up his outlook ahead of the upcoming legislative elections scheduled for May 2026. The leader of the FPM knows that the Nawaf Salam cabinet won't fall before the elections — or at least not soon — regardless of how harsh the criticism gets, since no one currently has a reason to push that hard.All the more so as the international community is closely scrutinizing those in power. This reality leaves Bassil with little choice but to play the opposition card to the fullest against the Joseph Aoun–Nawaf Salam duo, but above all against his main...
