Gebran Bassil

Bassil Criticizes Former Ally Hezbollah Over Its "Support Front"

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 ...

Has the FPM-Hezbollah Relationship Entered a New Phase?

In a move that brought the simmering divisions between the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and its former ally Hezbollah into the open,  former President and FPM founder Michel Aoun and the party’s current leader, MP Gebran Bassil, denounced Hezbollah’s military activities against Israel in South Lebanon. "We are not bound to Gaza by a defense ...

Bassil Intends to Submit an Appeal Against Mikati for Violating the Constitution

The leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and MP, Gebran Bassil, is determined to go all the way in his confrontation with Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the government, accusing them of violating the Constitution and taking over the role of the president of the Republic. Bassil announced on Tuesday that he will submit "a ...

An Aounist for President?

Qatari envoy to Lebanon Jassim bin Fahd al-Thani (Abu Fahd) did not succeed in convincing the head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), Gebran Bassil, to elect either Marada Party leader Sleiman Franjieh or Army Commander-in-chief General Joseph Aoun to the presidency.  The envoy spent days in Lebanon during which he met with Franjieh, Bassil ...

Dear Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mind Your Own Affairs!

It takes a little bit of everything to make up this world. Even someone like Abdallah Bou Habib. The caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs has only one thing on his mind: to accumulate political and media babbling and gesticulation. For some time now, Bou Habib has been letting loose with outrageous and nonsensical statements clearly unworthy of ...

Uncertainty Surrounds FPM's Decision to Participate in Budget Session

The Strong Lebanon Bloc of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) has decided to tie its participation in parliamentary sessions and the vote on the budget to the deliberations that will take place during these sessions. Parliament is set to convene on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss and vote on the 2024 budget. Gebran Bassil, chief of the said ...

2024 Budget and MPs' Participation

The adoption of the budget by Parliament may seem like a routine procedure. However, if approved before the end of January, it would mark the first instance of a budget being adopted within the legally prescribed timeframe in nearly two decades. Members of Parliament are scheduled to convene on January 24 and 25 to discuss and vote on the 2024 ...

Bassil, the Unloved

Ridicule won't kill Gebran Bassil any time soon. Between lies, half-truths, and fabrications, Batroun’s MP is willing to say anything and everything to make himself interesting and relevant. During a televised interview on OTV on Wednesday, the son-in-law of the ex-President of the Republic complimented Speaker of the House Nabih Berry, with ...

Is Gebran Bassil’s Purported Plan a Game Changer?

Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) chief Gebran Bassil is presently equidistant from all political forces, even from Hezbollah (supposedly his Mar Mikhael Agreement ally). This position is the result of the blow he suffered from his closest allies when it came to extending the tenure of the Army Commander-in-Chief. As such, the prolongation of ...

Hezb-FPM: An Alliance of Pure Necessity

An Opposition MP described the alliance between the Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah as one purely based on necessity and interest, even though it is often weakened when important deadlines approach. "Hezbollah puts its interests ahead of those of its ally," he said. A Lebanese Forces MP also described this alliance as "a marriage of ...

Michel Aoun at FPM Meeting Calls for 'Closing Ranks'

The weekly meeting of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), headed by its leader Gebran Bassil, was marked by the presence of his father-in-law, former President of the Republic Michel Aoun. According to information obtained by This is Beirut, this participation comes in the wake of "unjustified" absences of several FPM members from party meetings ...

Teymour Joumblatt Visits Frangieh

As part of his policy of openness to different political factions, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) MP Teymour Joumblatt paid a visit to the head of the Marada movement, Sleiman Frangieh, at his residence in Bnechai on Tuesday morning. Joumblatt was accompanied by a PSP delegation comprising MPs Akram Chehayeb and Wael Abou Faour, ...