Bassil calls for 'broad consensus' over new president

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has called for “a dialogue tackling issued related to economy and the political system alongside the discussions over the presidency.”

“Doesn’t dialogue over a president necessitate that we carry out a dialogue over three main issues, which are structural reforms in the Lebanese economy and model; the defense strategy and the meaning of neutralizing Lebanon; and the Lebanese system in terms of continuing the implementation of the Taif Accord and fixing its gaps through consensus among all Lebanese,” Bassil said in an interview on LBCI television.

He added: “Through the current parliamentary balance of power, we cannot elect a president without broad consensus on him, seeing as if he gets elected without consensus he will be fought and he will fail.”

“I support securing consensus over the president, but should there not be consensus, I will support election, because it is better than vacuum,” Bassil explained.

Asked about Speaker Nabih Berri’s call for pre-election consultations, Bassil said: “We must declare that should this matter happen this time, it will not be turned into a norm in the future.”

As for Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh’s suggestion that the president be directly elected in a popular vote, Bassil said: “If he can convince the Shiite Duo with this proposal that will be excellent.”

“We’re the ones who proposed a constitutional amendment in this regard in 2014-2015, saying the election should take place over two rounds -- the first among Christians and the second on the national level, so that the president enjoys national representation as well as Christian representation,” Bassil added.

As for Hezbollah’s confrontation against Israel, the FPM chief reiterated that “this front does not benefit Lebanon and might drag the country into a war.”