Bassil: We are the only bloc that did not grant confidence, and we will continue our positive yet effective opposition

The president of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, stated in a speech following the parliamentary session to hold the government accountable that, “We previously submitted ten questions to the government, and according to the rules of procedure, it must respond within fifteen days.” He added: “When we were ministers and received questions from deputies, we would rush to respond. This current disregard for Parliament and its members allows us to turn these questions into formal interrogations—and that is exactly what we will do, starting tomorrow.”

Bassil emphasized that “the issue extends beyond this. It concerns when a session will be set to answer questions that are clear, scientific, and objective. As expected, we received no answers today—neither from the government nor from the Prime Minister’s speech, which was full of fallacies. Among them was the claim that this is the first return plan presented by the government, which is untrue, as there was a prior plan that demonstrated far greater seriousness under more difficult circumstances.”

He continued: “The Prime Minister spoke of plans we have yet to see. Any such plan should be written and officially approved by the government.”

Bassil explained: “We were not satisfied with the government’s answers. From the outset, we chose to be a positive opposition to identify flaws and correct them.” He added that, “After nearly five months, the Lebanese people can clearly see the lack of serious government action apart from appointments made without any real adherence to proper mechanisms, and in a discretionary, vindictive manner that reflects political retaliation.”

He declared: “That is why we proposed a vote of confidence in the government, fully aware that we are the only parliamentary bloc that would withhold confidence. We insisted on this step because the government’s parliamentary votes do not reflect the reality on the ground, and over time, popular confidence will decline which is what matters most.”

Bassil continued: “We took this step to expose the hypocrisy of those who publicly criticize the government’s policies but in practice support them, making them complicit in those decisions and responsible for the outcomes.”

He stressed that “many of those who claimed to oppose the government’s actions have reaffirmed their confidence in it. This exposes a pattern of using media rhetoric to gain popularity, while privately benefiting from or endorsing the government’s policies.”

He also noted: “A minister who remains in the government without knowing the content of the American proposal or the response to it, yet still reaffirms confidence in the government, is clearly indifferent and willingly uninformed about crucial developments.”

Bassil concluded: “We will continue our role as a positive yet effective opposition, aiming to shed light on misconduct, negligence, and the absence of planning. We will continue to ask more questions exposing these issues to public opinion and pressuring the government to improve its performance. It is not in Lebanon’s interest, nor the Lebanese people’s, to accept this level of dysfunction from the government and the ruling authority as a whole. This failure will ultimately affect everyone.”