Bassil Warns of 'Extremism' after Hariri's Withdrawal

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has noted that “a host of domestic and foreign circumstances have influenced the decision of ex-PM Saad Hariri,” who has announced the suspension of his role in political life.

“He had been asked to do a civil war, and his rejection of this request led to taking this decision,” Bassil said in an interview with Russia’s RT television.

“It is regrettable that Hariri has been forced to withdraw from political life and this will lead to further extremism,” Bassil added.

“We as Lebanese must address this tension with understanding and full embracement and we must let the Sunni community choose its representatives,” the FPM chief went on to say.

Noting that no one responded to Christians when they boycotted elections in 1992, Bassil added that there should be no Sunni boycott.

“Should that happen, there should be a solution for the issue, and the elections must not be postponed,” he said.

Turning to the issue of the so-called Kuwaiti paper, which reportedly contains Gulf and international demands, Bassil said the paper is “a Gulf initiative that contains points on which the Lebanese agree.”

But “there are points that require time to be implemented, and this is a subject of disagreement among the Lebanese,” the FPM chief added.

He said that there should be “dialogue to discuss this paper,” calling on President Michel Aoun to call for national dialogue to discuss it.

“We want to correct our relations with the Gulf, but we don’t want to create a domestic problem,” Bassil added.

He also noted that the FPM has started a dialogue with Hizbullah to “improve the Mar Mikhail Agreement.”