The Political Council of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) emphasized the importance of having the party’s 16-member parliamentary bloc extend full support to former Minister of Finance Jihad Azour’s candidacy for president.
A statement issued on Tuesday at the end of the meeting chaired by MP Gebran Bassil in the presence of party founder and former president Michel Aoun said the FPM supported Azour because “he gained the unanimity of parliamentary blocs representing the overwhelming majority of Christians and possessed considerable qualifications.”
The statement further stressed that voting for Azour was crucial to defeating attempts to impose a candidate “who is unlikely to bring about reform or change of the existing political system.”
Unlike in previous sessions, the FPM will not resort to a blank vote, which would be perceived as an “obstructive” move that would “contribute to prolonging the presidential vacuum and the disadvantages that come with it.”
