Bassil: We hope to find an extended hand because we are really seeking a solution

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil did not run for presidency because he did not want to further complicate things, he told France 24 in a televised interview.

Bassil said Thursday that he opposes that Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh becomes a president because he does not agree with him on the same political program regarding reforms and building the state.

Bassil considered that "Lebanon is under a siege from abroad," and that "a president cannot succeed unless this siege is removed."

"The collapse cannot be stopped and the state cannot be built without reforms," he added. "We hope to find an extended hand because we are really seeking a solution."

Bassil went on to say that electing a president is not the solution but rather a gateway to the solution and a part of it.

"It leads us to form a government and to carry out reforms," he said.

"We agree with Hezbollah on many issues and we disagree with it on others. Today we and Hezbollah do not share identical points of view. Our priority is to find a president within a program and a framework for a comprehensive solution," Bassil added.

As for Bassil's visit to Paris, he said that he had asked to meet French officials in order to present to them "an idea and a program."

Bassil had arrived Wednesday in Paris to discuss with French officials presidential, governmental and economic matters, media reports said. He did not meet with French President Emmanuel Macron.

In a leaked audio from Paris he said that electing Franjieh as a president will bring Lebanon back to the nineties.

"We will move from a Berri-Hariri-Hrawi troika to a Berri-Mikati-Franjieh troika," Bassil said, adding that even if all parties agree on Suleiman Franjieh the FPM will say no.

Berri responded, shortly after the audio was leaked, that the situation in 1990 was better than the Aoun-Bassil-Jreissati era of the past six years.