Bassil Urges 'Underwater' Solution to Gas Row, Says Rivals Can't Disarm Hizbullah

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil stressed Sunday that “victory over the enemy is not achieved through arms exclusively.”

“I’m with a solution for the sea border that would preserve our right to underwater gas,” Bassil said at the FPM’s seventh annual conference.

“The water is not for anyone, but the gas is ours, and this is not in return for sanctions! The sanctions on me will not be lifted as long as there are elections,” Bassil added.

U.S. Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein has reportedly suggested an “underwater” solution to the sea border dispute between Lebanon and Israel. He has suggested “stopping discussions over the above-the-water lines and focusing on splitting the resources based on the basins that are under the water,” the reports said.

Bassil and the President Michel Aoun’s camp have meanwhile been accused of offering concessions in the negotiations in order to persuade Washington to lift its sanctions off the FPM chief.

Separately, Bassil said the political rivals of the FPM and Hizbullah will not be able to “disarm Hizbullah or prevent it from joining the government” should they win the parliamentary majority in the coming elections.

“They will bow to foreign forces by keeping the displaced and the refugees and by maintaining their control of people’s money and Lebanon’s resources,” the FPM chief charged.

He added that it was Hizbullah that “extended its hand” to the FPM with the aim of forging an electoral alliance for the May 15 parliamentary elections.

“It was Hizbullah that extended its hand to us for an electoral alliance, the same as we extended our hand to it on February 6, 2006, when they tried to isolate it. They want to strangle us and isolate us, but we breathe freedom, and through our strength and alliance we will succeed,” Bassil said.

Bassil added that the nature of the current electoral law obliges the FPM to be on the same electoral lists with political rivals such as the Amal Movement.

“It is true that we’ll be on the same train, but each of us will be in a compartment. On the way, each will have their window and view, and when we reach the station, each of us will go in a separate way,” the FPM chief explained.

“We ally electorally and we remain free politically. This means that we will neither give up our cause nor engage in corruption or subordination. We make the alliance and we win the elections, without changing a stance, demand or accusation, and the MPs whom we’ll win will serve our cause,” Bassil added.

Moreover, Bassil reiterated his call for electing the country’s president through a popular rather than a parliamentary vote.

“If they want to preserve partnership and Christian presence, the President can be elected by the Lebanese over two rounds – the first for Christians and the second for all Lebanese. Will the candidates (for the parliamentary elections) dare to endorse this constitutional amendment?” the FPM chief asked.