The head of the "Free Patriotic Movement," MP Gebran Bassil, affirmed that "the issue of the presidency has no solution except through understanding and balanced partnership, and understanding of course requires dialogue, and we have never been anything but for it."
After his meeting with the Grand Mufti of the Lebanese Republic, Sheikh Abdul Latif Deryan, at the head of a parliamentary delegation, he said: "Dialogue has its conditions—so as not to say its terms—in order to achieve success. This includes allowing for bilateral and trilateral consultations, which lead to the election of a president based on broad lines, agreed upon, whether regarding the personality, qualifications, or the program that they commit to implementing."
He added: "Either there is unanimous understanding, or the approval of the majority leads to the presidency, because a president without real support will not succeed. Our situation does not allow for a president to be presented by fundamental forces in the country, but this is better than a vacuum. If we cannot reach an understanding, then let's go for an election in Parliament and let whoever wins win."
Bassil emphasized that "this country is a country of partnership, and changing partnerships in any circumstance requires the agreement of all Lebanese to respect balanced partnership. We are now in a stage of presidential election, and there are other challenges, and any attempt to exclude any Lebanese party from this is a blow to the constitution, the charter, and the spirit of coexistence."
He viewed what is happening as "missing an opportunity and wasting time, and we are in the process of completing these constitutional entitlements on time."
Bassil continued: "We emphasize our commitment to the constitution, which stems from the Taif Agreement, because the spirit and concept of partnership are embodied in it textually and meaningfully. Those who seek to breach the Taif Agreement are the ones violating the constitution. We will not enter a phase where we say: we want to preserve the Taif Agreement, and we want to develop it in a way that does not undermine its spirit and essence, because it has some gaps that need to be addressed. To preserve the Taif Agreement, we must implement it, which still lacks several things, including a Senate, a civil state, abolishing confessionalism, and decentralization."
Regarding a question about the Qatari initiative and the end of the French initiative, he replied: "I do not say it has ended or started, but there is always interest from these two countries in the issue of Lebanon, reforms, and the ability to invest in it. It is good for us, as Lebanese, to know that those who give us financial amounts and place them in a leaky pot will reap nothing but loss and regret. Our duty is to implement the required reforms to reassure both countries and individuals as well as investors about investing in Lebanon."
In response to a question from "Waradana" regarding his attack on Army Commander General Joseph Aoun concerning the Syrian displacement and linking it to the presidential entitlement, Bassil said: "Our position on displacement does not relate to individuals."
Bassil pointed out that "our position does not concern individuals, and it is unfair after 12 years of the pain of displacement that affected all Lebanese to be called racist. We were the first to speak about displacement in 2011, and now we have reached what we warned against. We should not commit the same mistake today, and there is no security or political justification for the arrival of Syrians in Lebanon. The only background for all of this is the economic situation you know."
He added: "We call for respect for Lebanese law and the rights of our people in all areas, and the issue of displacement can be stopped by security authorities by closing illegal crossings and stopping the known networks to prevent the influx of Syrian refugees, and this is the role of the security forces and their responsibility. Our knowledge of these crossings allows security forces to control them, just as they secured marine crossings to prevent Syrians from escaping through them; the same should be done on land."
In response to a question from "Waradana," he stated: "We asked his Eminence to also eliminate the perception of decentralization as a demand of a faction or something that serves Christians; it is a demand of all Lebanese, not only as an implementation of the National Accord Document, but because experience has proven that we cannot achieve regional development without decentralization, which serves all regions and all segments of the Lebanese people, without any injustice to anyone, nor should any region be deprived of development by a government decision or a decision from the Parliament, but rather, the people of each region should have the capacity to develop their area through projects specific to their region."
