Bassil Threatens to 'Topple Government in the Street'

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has threatened that the FPM would “topple the government” through street protests if the other parties do not heed the movement's demand regarding “partnership” and the National Pact.

“The issue is not about the appointment of an officer or an army chief anymore and it has become bigger than this,” said Bassil during an annual FPM dinner banquet in Batroun.

“We cannot live together through nice words but rather through sharing responsibility and burdens in the presidency, the government, the parliament and appointments, or else we would be living a lie,” Bassil added.

“We must be partners... We are not your employees, workers or second-class citizens. If you reject our president we will reject your president,” the FPM chief warned.

“Those who want to cater to the people's interests must facilitate the approval of the oil decrees and the electricity projects,” Bassil noted.

He also warned that if the government “does not abide by the people's interest,” the FPM would “topple it in the street” for “violating the National Pact.”

“We cannot bear this any longer. If we take to the streets this time, we will not leave them, whether we protest alone or with anyone who would like to join us,” Bassil cautioned.

The FPM, which has the biggest Christian bloc in parliament, has suspended its participation in cabinet sessions and national dialogue meetings over accusations that other parties in the country are not respecting the National Pact.

The 1943 National Pact is an unwritten agreement that set the foundations of modern Lebanon as a multi-confessional state based on Christian-Muslim partnership.

The FPM's boycott of cabinet meetings was initially linked to the thorny issue of military and security appointments. The movement has long voiced reservations over the government's decision-taking mechanism in the absence of a president.

Addressing Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Bassil had recently said that “the son of late PM Saeb Salam must pay great attention when he says that the government is respecting the National Pact when it convenes in the presence of ministers representing only six percent of a main component of the country (Christians).”

Bassil has also warned that the country might be soon plunged into a “political system crisis” if the other parties do not heed the FPM's demands regarding Muslim-Christian “partnership.”

Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh hit back at Bassil last Monday, saying Marada and the other Christian parties in the cabinet “represent a lot more than six percent.”