The leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil, speaking in Kesrouan, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Credit: FPM’s X account)
The parliamentary elections next May will likely prove difficult for the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM). Since the 2019 uprising, Gebran Bassil’s party has lost momentum and seems to be declining in popularity in several areas once considered unshakable FPM strongholds. A few days after the party’s founder, Michel Aoun, visited Kesrouan without apparently generating the expected popular response, the FPM is now facing a serious setback with the likely resignation of Tony Abi Younes, who long served as the party’s coordinator for the Jbeil district. Many of his colleagues may even follow in his footsteps.L’Orient-Le Jour learned that Abi Younes — who did not respond to our requests for comment — has so far expressed his intention to resign only verbally. “We have not yet received anything official,” Ghassan Khoury, the FPM’s vice president...
The parliamentary elections next May will likely prove difficult for the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM). Since the 2019 uprising, Gebran Bassil’s party has lost momentum and seems to be declining in popularity in several areas once considered unshakable FPM strongholds. A few days after the party’s founder, Michel Aoun, visited Kesrouan without apparently generating the expected popular response, the FPM is now facing a serious setback with the likely resignation of Tony Abi Younes, who long served as the party’s coordinator for the Jbeil district. Many of his colleagues may even follow in his footsteps.L’Orient-Le Jour learned that Abi Younes — who did not respond to our requests for comment — has so far expressed his intention to resign only verbally. “We have not yet received anything official,” Ghassan Khoury, the...
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