Bassil Says FPM to Have Biggest Bloc in Parliament
Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, the head of President Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, has announced that the FPM won at least 29 seats in parliamentary elections, making it the largest bloc in the assembly.
Bassil told reporters that their bloc could end up having 30 seats. The bloc will comprise allied businessmen, the Armenian Tashnag Party and MP Talal Arslan.
Bassil said the bloc would maintain its "strategic alliance" with Hizbullah.
The FPM was the second largest in the outgoing parliament after Prime Minister Saad Hariri's bloc, which had 32 seats but appears to have lost a third of them in Sunday's elections.
Hariri is likely to remain in his post, but Hizbullah and its allies appear to have gained enough seats in the 128-member legislature to veto legislation.
Source: Associated Press, Naharnet
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