Member of the Powerful Republican Bloc, Representative Pierre Bou Assi, considered that the Aounist phenomenon is all sinister, but the worst of it is that it sacrifices everything that does not serve its interests, noting that just as it sacrificed the Lebanese army in the 1980s, it is sacrificing today the judiciary, the presidency of the republic and all state institutions to serve its interests.

In an interview on “Free Lebanon”, Bou Asi saw that what MP Gebran Bassil said in his press conference applies to his performance because his words are empty and worthless with no benefit. And he added: “Basil is like the $ 1 stores: a varied offer, of poor quality, and nothing of value.”

He added, “Gebran Bassil considers the government a tool he uses to enhance his chances of reaching the presidency, and these are the main reasons for not forming the government. Bassil has two strengths: President Michel Aoun and his alliance with Hezbollah, in addition to his chairing the largest parliamentary bloc. But Basil’s biography is not of much interest, except in a negative way.

Bou Asi pointed out that “Basil woke up late and on the wrong side of the bed  ”and elaborated:“ They have been ruling for about five years and there is still one year left for the covenant and “If within those five years you were not able to do anything, now you want to launch campaigns ?” Today, Basil talks about the ships, 11 years after they were brought in. From day one until now, he has failed in the ministries of communications, energy and foreign affairs.  We are fed up  with Gebran Bassil being a permanent victim , and the movement’s constant talk of a “global war” against it .

He continued: “The role of the Presidency of the Republic is sovereign par excellence, and the file of border demarcation should have been in its hands. I never understood why President Nabih Berri negotiated and was put in the framework. There is no country in the world in which the Speaker of Parliament negotiates the demarcation of borders.

He also pointed out that the method of the Free Patriotic Movement is to change the approach in line with its interests, adding: “Christians in particular are the first to pay the price because the Aounist phenomenon is at the heart of the Christian home. I have no confidence in the performance of this group and I do not judge the intentions but rather the results which were never good since they came to power.. The Aounists’ alliance with Hezbollah in 2006 did not serve the country, but rather destroyed it because we were emerging from a Syrian occupation, so it proceeded to hand over its papers to a religious ideological group affiliated politically and militarily with the Iranian regime.”

On the other hand, Bou Asi pointed out that Hezbollah’s link is ideological, religious, political, financial, military and security to the existing regime in Iran and not to the state there, stressing that in order to preserve this matter, all things are acceptable, from losing borders to covering corruption or participating in smuggling. He also asked: “Why should all the Lebanese bear the consequences of  Hezbollah’s abroad  wars when it does  not even  inform its ally, General Michel Aoun?”

He added: “The external blockade is a big lie and we surrounded ourselves on our own because of the politics of Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement, headed by Gebran Bassil when he was Minister of Foreign Affairs. We sink together in this ship. There are no international plans to drown Lebanon, no, rather, there are narrow individual interests that have led us to that.

Regarding the expected European sanctions, he explained: “The Europeans in general, and the French in particular, hate imposing sanctions, and the moment they imposed any sanctions, they consider themselves to have failed. There is no natural European inclination for it, but at the same time, they see a country that means to them emotionally, historically and politically, ending because of the performance of some. I personally wish Macron did not thankfully take the initiative , because it should have been Lebanese, and no matter how important the idea was, it had no value if the Lebanese people did not adopt it.