Free Patriotic Movement chief and caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil called Tuesday for liberating “the minds of politicians” from “foreign hegemonies,” in tweets marking Lebanon’s Independence Day.
“We want the minds of politicians to be independent from foreign hegemonies and this is what we achieve in the presidency but it is not enough,” Bassil tweeted.
“We must become independent from all diseases in our country, after we liberated ourselves from occupation, and today we want the independence of state institutions from corruption,” he added.
“What’s important is the independence of the Lebanese and their independent decision and this can only be achieved through a fair electoral law that completes the journey of the martyrs,” Bassil went on to say.
The FPM chief also emphasized that “anyone who was martyred for a cause their believe in is the martyr of entire Lebanon.”
“We want to start the building journey and our path will be long… but our cause will triumph because it is the cause of people who want to live free on their land,” Bassil added.
The election of FPM founder Michel Aoun as Lebanon’s 13th president after two and a half years of presidential void has raised hopes that Lebanon can begin tackling challenges including a stagnant economy, a moribund political class and the influx of more than a million Syrian refugees.
In addition to pledges of economic growth and security, Aoun said in his oath of office that Lebanon must work to ensure Syrian refugees “can return quickly” to their country.
Aoun also pledged to endorse an “independent foreign policy” and to protect Lebanon from “the fires burning across the region.”
