Report: FPM to refer mutineer MPs to arbitration council
The Free Patriotic Movement has mulled referring MPs Elias Bou Saab and Alain Aoun to the Movement’s Council of Elders, which is a body that issues nonbinding recommendations but has major influence, following the two legislators’ decision to refrain from voting for Jihad Azour in the latest presidential election session, a media report said.
The Council of Elders comprises ex-president and FPM founder Michel Aoun, co-founders Khalil Hamadeh and Raya Daouk, the FPM’s former deputy head Roumel Saber, ex-MP Naji Gharios and incumbent MP Nicolas Sehnaoui.
FPM chief Jebran Bassil, however, told the Movement’s political commission on Thursday that the mutineer MPs will be referred to the FPM’s Arbitration Council as per the FPM’s by-laws, where they will be asked whether or not they abode by the leadership’s decision, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Friday.
“Should they confirm to the Council that they had honored the decision, no measures will be taken, while those who admit that they violated the decision will be expelled from the FPM. As for those who refrain from appearing before the Arbitration Council, they will be expelled through an in-absentia decision, similarly to what happened with ex-MP Ziad Aswad,” the daily quoted Bassil as saying.
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