Bassil Says Bid to 'Sabotage' Presidential Settlement Won't Succeed

Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil on Monday said that there are political parties that are “seeking to sabotage the presidential understanding,” referring to the political settlement that led to President Michel Aoun's election and Prime Minister Saad Hariri's designation.

“Some are seeking to sabotage the presidential understanding, and they have expressed their madness to achieve this sabotage but they won't succeed,” Bassil said at a press conference dedicated to putting the public in the picture of the FPM ministers' “achievements” over the past 100 days.

Asked whether the FPM has supported State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Peter Germanos in his latest stance before the Military Court in the Hajj-Itani-Ghabash case, Bassil stressed that the FPM is “not covering anyone.”

He however rejected “the domination of the judiciary by security agencies.”

A fierce war of words has been raging for several days now between the FPM and al-Mustaqbal Movement over remarks attributed to Bassil in some media reports.

Bassil has distanced himself from the remarks and launched an acrimonious response against his critics, describing them as “mad lunatics.”

The Military Court's controversial ruling in the Hajj-Itani-Ghabash case has also contributed to the standoff between the two parties, while also drawing responses from other political forces.