On Saturday evening, the head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), MP Gebran Bassil, endorsed former Minister and current IMF Department Director for the Middle East and Central Asia Jihad Azour’s nomination for the presidential race.
“It has become known to everybody that we have reached an understanding with various political parliamentary blocs regarding Jihad Azour’s candidacy, one that we deem adequate and non-provocative,” Bassil said during an FPM dinner for the Byblos sector.
“We deemed it necessary to agree on several names in a show of flexibility, as it is unacceptable to have all the Christian parties agree on a candidate and not be able to get him elected,” Bassil added.
The FPM head went on to say that this endorsement is a “positive development so that they don’t accuse us of blocking the presidential elections.”
“The candidate we have chosen carries a project of reform and rescue. Why burn his card and sabotage the steps without a serious attempt to secure this agreement?” Bassil added.
The head of the FPM also advocated for an agreement with the Amal-Hizbollah duo as well as an agreement over the electoral program of the future president.
“We won’t accept that a president be imposed on us, just like we refuse to impose one on anybody. This is the standing equation now: a nationwide agreement on the name of the president and his electoral program is the only solution. What was previously announced by Hizbollah’s Head of the Executive Committee, Hachem Safieddine, is what triggered this agreement. We agree with him,” the FPM head said.
According to Bassil, “the only remaining victory that we need to ensure is building the State, especially after vanquishing terrorism and establishing an equilibrium with Israel.”
Stressing that “the resistance constitutes Lebanon’s strength,” Bassil noted that in case of disagreement over the war and peace decision-making, we will hold dialogue sessions to discuss the best course of action.”
Bassil concluded by saying “What’s gone is gone”.
