Leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) Gebran Bassil attended two events organized by his party on Sunday. The first, “Gen to Gen,” was attended by young people and FPM executives.
During the ceremony, the FPM leader declared that he has no regrets about the Mar Mikhael agreement (signed between the FPM and Hezbollah in 2006), affirming that his party is ready to return to the principles of the agreement if the pro-Iranian group returns to its commitment “to partnership.”
“The agreement gave us 15 years of stability. We have lost popularity because it is difficult to promote Hezbollah on the Lebanese street, especially among young people.”
The alliance between Hezbollah and the FPM has crumbled in recent months, beginning when Hezbollah backed Sleiman Frangieh’s candidacy for the presidency. Bassil has also openly criticized the “unity of fronts” policy advocated by Hezbollah, which has been in conflict with Israel in southern Lebanon since the start of the Gaza war. A Hezbollah delegation even visited Bassil’s father-in-law, former President Michel Aoun, to try and break the ice.
Last Friday, during a fundraising ceremony for the FPM, Bassil stressed that his party has not changed its position towards Hezbollah and that it would continue to support Hezbollah as long as the Lebanese army is not capable of leading the resistance against Israel on its own.
The second FPM-related event was the party’s annual conference, where its leader explained that the meeting was being held to evaluate the past period and plan for the period ahead.
It was here that Bassil insisted that his party’s policy is based on the choice of the state; he went on to propose three binomials, including national sovereignty and defense strategy. Surprising indeed, given the long-standing “partnership” with Hezbollah at the antithesis of the “choice of the state.”
He reiterated his request to Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai to “bring together Christian political leaders” because “there’s no reason why we can’t meet.” Hardly surprising, since this will be an opportunity for the FPM leader to try to draw closer to other Christian parties, given that he finds himself sidelined from the political game due to his “distance” from his only ally, Hezbollah.
