The head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), Gebran Bassil, emphasized on Tuesday that “dialogue must be linked to a specific agenda and a defined timeframe so it won’t be a waste of time.” He added, “We, as a movement, are engaging with the majority of parties, if not all of them.”
In a press conference after the political council meeting, Bassil assured that “there is no possibility of electing a president except through understanding.” He noted, “We rely on Lebanese-Lebanese dialogue, and from the start, we said that a program is the basis of understanding.”
Bassil mentioned that there was a meeting recently with the opposition team “so that we do not remain in a position of proposing one candidate against another without an agreement on a vision, and we hope that the dialogue remains continuous and open.”
Bassil also pointed out his discussions with Hezbollah. He said that “what is being discussed with the Hezb is not a retreat, concession, deal, or compromise, but rather political work. What we have spoken about is for all Lebanese and not just for the FPM, from the laws of administrative and financial decentralization and the expanded fund law that we seek to approve in advance to the Covenant’s program.”
He revealed a preliminary agreement with Hezbollah on a consensual path and on facilitating the name of a president in exchange for national demands. “We are still at the beginning of the dialogue; we have presented ideas and are awaiting their response,” he said with no further details.
Gebran Bassil criticized the Dimane ministerial meeting, in the presence of Maronite Patriarch, Bechara Rahi, and announced later that elections for the leadership of the FPM will be held on September 10. Candidatures will be open from August 10, he announced, inviting “those who oppose the action of the party leadership to present their candidacy”.
