Bassil: No divorce with Hezbollah, army chief is 'coup commander'
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has said that the FPM’s relation with Hezbollah has not been severed while noting that “there is no dialogue at the moment.”
Adding that he does not want a divorce with the longtime ally, Bassil told al-Akhbar newspaper that the 2006 memorandum of understanding between the two parties is “no longer sufficient.”
“Time and circumstances have surpassed the understanding,” Bassil added.
The FPM chief also noted that some articles of the MoU were “totally neglected,” such as “state building and its requirements.”
“Some articles need a different approach, such as the defense strategy, which requires a reinterpretation and a review so that it does not stay merely a headline,” Bassil added.
He also reiterated that he finds the latest sea border demarcation with Israel as “the best example to put the defense strategy into implementation,” noting that “the roles of each of the state and the resistance were highlighted in dealing with this file and reaching the demarcation.”
“Each of them knew the boundaries of their position and their role, as well as who decides and who implements,” Bassil added.
Confirming that he has informed Hezbollah of his “categorical rejection” of the election of Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh as president, the FPM chief added that the same stance also applies to Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, whom he described as the “coup commander,” blaming him for the situations in the country during ex-president Michel Aoun’s tenure in the wake of the October 17, 2019 uprising.
If they want Franjieh or Joseph Aoun as president, “let them elect them without us. We are not alone in the country,” Bassil went on to say.
The FPM chief, however, emphasized that he rejects the election of a president who “does not enjoy a Christian cover.”
Source: Naharnet
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