Bassil says FPM reorganizing and is outside govt. but not outside state

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil whose party is now in opposition after being excluded from the Nawaf Salam government, said Friday that the FPM is "in the state and will never again be outside the state."

"No one can take us out," Bassil said. "We might be excluded from the upcoming appointments but we have our large parliamentary bloc and our people in the administration, the military and security services, the judiciary, and various state departments."

Bassil said the current phase is necessary and beneficial for the FPM ahead of the 2026 elections "so that it can cleanse itself and rid itself of the opportunists."

"The cleansing process requires internal re-organization and it will take some time," he explained.

Bassil said, that in the upcoming elections, the FPM will need allies but others will need as well to ally with the FPM, adding that the communication with Hezbollah has not been severed but remains intermittent and temporary.