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Free Patriotic Movement chief Gebran Bassil thanked his supporters on Sunday for re-electing him as party leader. “The most beautiful victories are those won without a fight,” he said after “winning” the elections for the presidency of the FPM without an electoral battle.
At the Free Patriotic Movement’s “transfer of power” ceremony, the Aounist MP boasted that FPM militants trusted his choices and encouraged him to pursue his political path. Nevertheless, Bassil took the opportunity to address his party’s rebellious members, pointing out that even if their opinions differ, they must abide by the movement’s rules and mechanisms, and not criticize them in public or the media. “When a decision is taken, everyone must abide by it, and anyone who fails to do so will be held to account and risk being expelled from the FPM.” Bassil continued, “The party must move on from the stage of individual militants to that of a militant institution because the struggle is not measured by age but by continuity and sincerity; because what counts, in the end, is the militant’s ability to resist, not his seniority.”
Furthermore, the son-in-law of the former President insisted that the FPM “must move from partnership to construction, and not pie-sharing: the main reason for its fight against all temptations linked to the Presidency of the Republic over the past year.” A statement that nevertheless contradicts all the actions of Bassil, for whom the ambition to succeed his father-in-law at all costs was no secret, which has paralyzed political and institutional life, even before the end of Michel Aoun’s term in office.
The Batroun MP then turned to the subject of reforms, explaining that the FPM is carrying out its most important activity within the Lebanese Republic: that of putting an end to impunity to achieve effective accountability. “Responsibility is not revenge, but cleanliness in politics, construction and not destruction,” said Gebran Bassil, who does not feel concerned by the FPM’s years of failure and corruption in the Ministry of Energy and the presidency.
“We are clinging to Greater Lebanon, the Lebanon of 10,452 square kilometers, even if we must rebuild it and redefine the Lebanese identity around our ‘Lebaneseness.’ We cannot live in a country if we do not confirm our identity and our belonging to a homeland that unites us, beyond denominations, beyond ‘Phoenicianity,’ ‘Arabness,’ ‘Orientality’ and ‘Mediterraneanity.’ We cannot preserve our homeland if all our people emigrate and are replaced by other people, even if they are neighbors and brothers. This is why exodus and asylum have become an existential threat that we must firmly combat, whatever the cost,” he said, referring to the millions of displaced persons present on Lebanese territory. However, Bassil failed to mention that his old-new-ally Hezbollah is also seeking to change Lebanon’s identity by violating its institutions and Constitution daily.
Turning to the upcoming presidential election, Bassil said it “remains a lifeline for the country,” calling for a national dialogue. “Neither the resistance camp nor the opposition camp can impose one president on the other, which is why dialogue is necessary,” he declared, wearing the mediator hat. He added, “The presidential program is paramount, especially if a candidate lacks representative legitimacy and needs to compensate for it with parliamentary and popular support.”
Bassil also criticized the centralized system that has transformed Lebanon “into power zones for political leaders and strengthened communities to the detriment of the country,” stressing that this system is in reality “a system of corruption, power-grabbing and power-sharing.” He further proposed testing decentralization, which puts development and equity first, noting however that it is only part of the solution, as the full solution requires a strong central state with a decentralized administrative and financial system.
