The head of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Gebran Bassil fended off Hezbollah’s accusations of betrayal in a televised speech.
Bassil stated: “It is only normal that we vote for former Finance Minister Jihad Azour, it is the name upon which most political parties intersected. The head of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah previously announced that his choice for a candidate does not harm their alliance with the FPM. Thus, I am positive that Sayyed (Hassan) Nasrallah does not condone the accusations of betrayal against us.”
The former minister added that “the Mar Mikhael agreement with Hezbollah is not dead for us yet, but it is not in great shape either, and we stand on the sidelines of any alignments, be it internal or external… we would like to be on good terms with everybody.”
“We have reached an understanding with the confrontational forces without the formation of an alliance. We agree on several sovereign and reformist topics, but we disagree with them on the matter of the ‘resistance,’ this is why we will never align ourselves with them against Hezbollah,” Bassil stated.
The FPM head reiterated that “Azour was among the acceptable suggested names, however not the ideal one.”
“Our main concern today is to end the presidential vacuum and to elect a president, knowing that it is not the solution but the beginning to reach one, if and only if this president brings along a program upon which we can all agree,” Bassil said.
Bassil continued saying that “the FPM’s decision to endorse Azour’s candidacy was taken unanimously by the head of the FPM and its political council. Therefore, committing to this decision is now mandatory and dutiful for every MP in our parliamentary bloc.”
“I don’t buy into the premise that an MP in our bloc would drift away from the decision, and a refusal to abide by this decision will bring in consequences and measures. No matter how vast the disagreements get, we will reach an agreement in the end,” Bassil concluded, in reference to several MPs in his block rumored of wanting to cast a blank vote.
