In an interview with LBCI on Thursday evening, Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader Gebran Bassil criticized Hezbollah’s military involvement in South Lebanon, in support of Hamas in its war with Israel, stressing that “it is not Lebanon’s job to liberate Palestine.” At the same time, he underlined the “sanctity of Hezbollah’s mission against Israel, if it is to liberate the Shebaa farms.”
In a rhetoric he has been repeating ever since his relations with the pro-Iranian group deteriorated over the presidential election issue, Bassil resorted to harsh terms in his criticism of Hezbollah, while pleading for a “genuine partnership” in Lebanon.
He basically accused Hassan Nasrallah’s party of having undermined their “partnership” by seeking to impose its candidate (Sleiman Frangieh) for the presidency of the Republic, dragging Lebanon into a risky confrontation with Israel and “endorsing the constitutional violations of the government usurping presidential powers.”
The FPM leader even went as far as to compare the current period in Lebanon to the time when the country was under Syrian tutelage, noting that, today, Hezbollah is assuming the role played by the Syrian regime in Lebanon, in terms of “illegal practices or policies excluding” others.
Thus, Bassil seems to agree with what the majority of Lebanese think of Hezbollah, whose practices are preventing Lebanon from building a state worthy of the name.
“We are against the conflagration on the southern border in the name of a unity of fronts that Hezbollah brandishes, because this does not serve Lebanon’s interests. Why is the Syrian front calm? Why have the Iraqi factions suspended their attacks (against the Americans)? We don’t want Lebanon to be a platform for attacks on occupied Palestine,” he said.
However, his commitment to the prevailing sentiment among the majority of Lebanese citizens won’t hinder him from reuniting with Hezbollah once more when the occasion arises, to oppose factions aiming to detach Lebanon from its influence, although he is fully aware that Hezbollah pursues an agenda aligned with Iran’s interests.
At no point in his interview did Bassil question the FPM’s ‘Mar Mikhael agreement’ with Hezbollah, which had enabled the latter to benefit from unwelcome Christian cover. Nor did he question his relations with the pro-Iranian party, even though he acknowledged that they are not at their best.
The interview was conducted just hours after a visit by a Hezbollah delegation, led by the head of its parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad, to former president and FPM founder, Michel Aoun. For Hassan Nasrallah’s party, the aim of this visit was to “break the ice” with the FPM.
