BEIRUT: The head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), Lebanese MP Gebran Bassil made a speech on Sunday attacking all attempts to form a government. He declared his rejection of the “three-eight formula that is being worked on to form a government of 24 ministers.”
Bassil, an ally of Hezbollah, said that “actual parity between Muslims and Christians is through having 12 ministers named by Christians and 12 ministers named by Muslims, not eight ministers named by Christians and 16 ministers named by Muslims.”
Bassil, who was described by the British newspaper The Times as “the most hated man in Lebanon,” strongly criticized Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Hezbollah’s main ally, as well as the head of the Lebanese Forces (LF) Party, Samir Geagea, the rival Christian party on the Lebanese political scene, accusing him of failing to defend the Christian interests.
Bassil said he had decided “to seek help from his friend Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hezbollah,” as he accepts what Nasrallah believes about forming a government.
“Bassil seemed to open the battle for the parliamentary and possibly presidential elections by presenting himself as a sole defender of the Christian community’s rights.”
The coordinator of the Rally for Sovereignty, Naufal Daou, said that “Bassil’s request for Nasrallah’s assistance is ... rather an attempt to bully through weapons and a recognition of Nasrallah’s authority in exchange for some positions and quotas.”
FASTFACT
Hezbollah activists celebrated on social media the victory of Ebrahim Raisi in the Iranian presidential elections.
Daou addressed Bassil by saying: “Isn’t it better ... to seek the assistance of the Lebanese constitution and Lebanon’s true Arab friends in the interests of the Lebanese people instead of resorting to arms? The constitution is a reference, not a party that owns weapons.”
A member of the parliamentary Strong Republic bloc, MP Wehbe Qatisha, said that Bassil “has entrenched himself in sectarianism.”
Former MP Fadi Karam said that Bassil and his team “ruined the country, destroyed the state, and devastated the people through their alliances with the enemies of freedom and with the axis of humiliation and backwardness.”
Bassil affirmed that “our intention is to restore the role they took from us between 1990 and 2005,” referring to reducing the powers of the presidency in accordance with the Taif Agreement for the benefit of the Council of Ministers. He accused the other parties of not respecting the text of the agreement.
A few hours before Bassil’s speech, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi in his Sunday sermon called on “the Lebanese people to be vigilant.”
He strongly criticized “the ruling political group ... for its inability to rule the people and the country. Officials are blocking the formation of the government under the pretext of powers. What powers are you looking for? ... Our problem is not a lack of powers, but a lack of responsibility,” he said.
Al-Rahi stressed that “our army is always ready to confront any breach of security, and the time has come for the state to clarify its position and recognize the army as the sole legitimate party that is responsible for Lebanon’s security, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.”
Meanwhile, Hezbollah activists celebrated on social media the victory of Ebrahim Raisi in the Iranian presidential elections.
