The president of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, affirmed at the Byblos Judicial Council dinner that “Byblos is the land of politics, and great figures have emerged from it, such as Brigadier General Raymond Edde, who stood against the “Cairo Agreement”, rejecting Lebanon as an arena for war and Israeli and Syrian occupation, and was therefore truly sovereign and not selective, whereas today there are those who call themselves sovereign on a piecemeal basis”.
Bassil said: “The people of Byblos are people of a state, not militias. That is why Byblos rejected war, and the first war crimes were committed on its land. Its people know how to live together.
And we in the Free Patriotic Movement see Byblos as our land. It has given us its love and trust, and in every election it has granted us its confidence. We must return that trust, and no one can divide us.”
He added: We are here to stay, deeply rooted, and we say what it means to be loyal to the land of Byblos. We teach about loyalty because we are loyal to our leader and his school. We have learned lessons from betrayal because the voices of the people need protection, and we are determined to do so. Whoever reaches the voices of the people and then changes his position does not become independent but a traitor.
He pointed out that the movement is based on the idea of dignity and expresses the spirit of Byblos, its history, and its civilization, adding: “Therefore, it is entrusted with the will of the people and must therefore recover what was taken from it through betrayal, which is a return to the natural course of things, because the seat is a trust of the people.”
Bassil emphasized: “We want to rise to the challenge and fight the battle ahead of us, and the decision is yours, and it is a battle for the rise of the movement and the homeland, in which there is no room for gray areas or opportunism, and no room for those who consider representation a “personal opportunity” rather than a “public trust.”
He said: “This battle is not against individuals, but against the mentality of disintegration and the transformation of politics into commerce, and politicians and honorable activists into merchants selling the cause for their personal interests.”
Bassil asked: “What is the value of an individual who wins a seat as a deputy but loses the bloc or group that makes a difference?”
What can he achieve alone: laws in parliament? Files in the government? Projects in the judiciary? Who completed the projects, roads, dams, and waterworks?
He continued: Who completed the Amchit-Tartaj road? The deputy or the parliamentary and ministerial bloc? Who completed the Anaya-Akoura road? The deputy or the parliamentary and ministerial bloc?
The Ibrahim River-Qartaba Road? The individual MP or the parliamentary and ministerial bloc?
Who completed the Janna dam and will complete it no matter how long it takes? The individual MP or the parliamentary and ministerial bloc?
Who accomplished things in Batroun? The individual or the group?
Who completed the water projects in Blat, Mastaita, Qartaboun, Fidar, Ibrahim River, Barbara, Kfar Kada, Majdal, Obeidat, Ghalbon, Jaj, Mashmash, Mkhada, Laqlouq, Garzouz, Sharbina, and Tartaj? Who creates national partnership and sectarian balance? The deputy or the bloc?
Who will pass the election law, participate in forming the government, and appoint the president? A deputy or a bloc?
Who will confront the projects of division, displacement, and identity erosion? an independent MP or a cohesive bloc?
Bassil emphasized that our battle is to protect our existence and our role to preserve our freedom, sovereignty, and independence.
He explained: The battle is for Lebanon’s decisions to be free, and for Lebanon not to be a bargaining chip in the game of compromises.
He said: The importance of parliamentary elections is not who wins the seats, but who protects the identity and existence; parliamentary representation is a responsibility and a public benefit, not a personal gain.
Bassil added: The Movement is not a false witness or a figurehead in the compromises of others, and the Movement did not accept to take instructions from major powers and countries, in order to take instructions from internal political authorities and become their puppet.”
He said: “We are a movement of clean political confrontation, and we preserve our honest people, such as Roland Khoury, who endured injustice because he created an institution far from clientelism. He upset even members of our own movement so that his conscience would not be upset. He did not open black boxes but opened a white box and a white book to keep his conscience clean, and he endured some of his family members who turned against him and stabbed him in the back.
Bassil added: I thank the young people of Byblos, one by one, and I tell them that they have restored the movement’s vitality. If the opponents are afraid of a movement dinner, what will they do in the elections?
Bassil emphasized: The results of a large survey in Byblos show its strength, and I assure you that it will remain strong in the elections. But we must work with one heart, and personal ambition must step back for the sake of the group’s ambition. He added: We made a big mistake when we allowed some personal ambitions to go beyond Byblos.
He pointed out that we must speak to people who have been misled or received incorrect information, saying, “We will not give in to despair despite the difficulties. We have never knelt, and we have kept our heads held high, looking forward with hope.”
Bassil pointed out that after months, we have a battle of loyalty and commitment, adding: “Let us turn betrayals into motivation, sacred anger into strong participation, and injustice into an uprising of votes at the ballot boxes.”
He concluded: Byblos was and will remain the stronghold of the Movement. The Movement was founded to preserve its refinement and civilization, and it will remain at this level of morality. We are the children of the state and the army. We are not a militia; we preserve the honorable history of Byblos and Lebanon. And the Movement was created to win.
