The head of the "Free Patriotic Movement," MP Gibran Bassil, opened his press conference by congratulating the head of the Engineers Syndicate, Fadi Hanna in Beirut, and the head of the syndicate, Shawki Fattaf, in Tripoli. He stated that it was a "double victory across all of Lebanon for the largest syndicate and in a clear political battle, which has national, political, and popular implications and may have future consequences. The lesson from the battle in the syndicate is also about betrayal; in 2017, we were betrayed electorally in the Engineers Syndicate and lost by 21 votes. This is the same betrayal that the movement and former President Michel Aoun suffered in the Maarab Agreement, with the coup against the mandate and its undermining within the government and the street. The same betrayal also affected the government and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Three betrayals in one year from the same person, whose history is a witness to backstabbing and coups."
He mentioned that "the lesson from yesterday's elections is the mutual loyalty to commitments and electoral and political understandings; the result of loyalty is comprehensive, mutual victory. However, when agreements are violated, the loss is also mutual, as happened since the end of General Aoun's term regarding the presidency, government, and on the street."
Bassil added, "Regarding the numbers and the distortion of facts, we will continue to confront their lies in the battle of numbers and facts. They tried to distort our candidate's image by fabricating issues about companies in the southern suburb and OFAC, whereas we respected their candidate Pierre Jbara for being an independent and respected person deserving appreciation and not deserving of defamation and distortion."
On municipal elections, Bassil clarified that "the question is not whether the movement is ready for municipal elections; the question is whether the government and the Ministry of Interior are ready. We have several indicators of unpreparedness, such as the failure to hold any meeting of governors with the caretaker Minister of Interior Bassam Mawlawi, and no meetings have been held at the provincial level with the district chiefs. With three and a half weeks left until the elections, no actual movements or official and unofficial nominations have been recorded, as well as the absence of electoral officer Brigadier Elias Khoury from his position, the ministry, and Lebanon, along with a lack of logistical preparations within the ministry or provinces and districts."
He confirmed that "we will not take a stance before officially meeting with the Minister of Interior to assess his readiness, and we will send him a parliamentary delegation before the session of the parliament to determine our position. If the ministry is ready, the movement will participate and will not extend the municipal councils. They secretly tell us: 'We know there are no elections, but come vote against the extension,' which means that they want us to enter into a vacuum, the unknown, and chaos. We choose to continue the municipal and voluntary work and manage public facilities instead of allowing a vacuum and deceiving the people."
Regarding the Syrian displacement, he said: "Did we need the crime of killing Pascal Sleiman to recognize the danger of Syrian displacement after some supported their entry and stay in Lebanon, even at their own expense?" He stressed that "there must be an international, especially European, stance considering that most areas of Syria are safe and suitable for returning. Any country that does not take such a stance is deemed to have an antagonistic position towards Lebanon. There must be a decisive parliamentary position regarding the rejection of the continued stay of the displaced and providing recommendations and directives to the government and ministers individually to take the required legal steps for this purpose, and to approve the laws for return submitted by us and others. The government must fully implement the return policy paper that includes all known procedures, topped by halting funding for the continued stay of the displaced in Lebanon and instead funding their return."
