NNA - Head of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, confirmed at the closing celebration of the paper rally organized by the movement’s youth sector in Mayrouba, that this year's gathering is special with the headline of "Find a way to stay".

He said, "This is the essence of the Free Patriotic Movement's cause: steadfastness and survival for a free existence. As for the struggle of the younger generation today, it is under the title of steadfastness to survive in liberty." 

He added: "You and I want to be free to build the state with policies that preserve us and make us steadfast in our country, without having to migrate in search of work, while a displaced person, a refugee, or any stranger, no matter how close, takes our place."

Addressing the younger generation, Bassil said: “You have the capability that works miracles. Believe in your positive energy, have confidence in yourselves, and do not lose hope, and of course you will succeed. In the most difficult circumstances, we did not lose hope to liberate Lebanon from tutelage and occupation, and we succeeded." He recalled three lessons he learned from former President General Michel Aoun, which are: "You learn the truth and the truth shall set you free; be a guarantee for each other;  and the youth of the movement were not created for difficult missions, but rather for impossible missions..."

He continued, “Renewed life is a test worthy of being experienced by individuals, societies, parties, and nations,” adding that the Free Patriotic Movement aims to renew itself with its youth. "We cannot live in the past, but rather learn lessons from it," he maintained.

Bassil paid homage and respect to all those who struggled and made great achievements, adding, "Some of them fought, suffered physical disabilities, were martyred, lost family members and loved ones, or lost opportunities, money, and interests...But the fighter struggles silently, and struggle teaches us humility.”

He continued to indicate that "FPM is a bridge of communication with everyone and between everyone...Its strength lies in winning the battle of building the state through peaceful confrontation and dialogue and not through internal fighting and strife, just as it won the battle of sovereignty in the peaceful struggle after 1990."

He added: "War between the Lebanese is forbidden, and the stage of militias that some dream of returning to take control is forbidden...For the movement, the security of Lebanese society is above all considerations." 

To those who left the movement, Bassil said the value of their pure stages of struggle is preserved, but the harm they caused to the movement that launched them is not hidden.

Bassil finally renewed his commitment to liberty, sovereignty, independence and free existence. He added, "I am committed to reform and change, to fighting corruption and the system that sponsors it...I am committed to recovering the stolen funds transferred abroad, conducting forensic audits, working to recover depositors’ funds, even partially, and working to hold the thieves accountable...I am committed to rejecting settlement, fighting displacement and asylum, and working for the return of the displaced and refugees to their countries...I am committed to the state, the law and the constitution, to building the state and its institutions, the state of truth and justice. I am committed to achieving expanded decentralization and working to establish a sovereign fund...I am committed to confronting every usurper and aggressor on our land, at the foremost being Israel, ISIS, and all terrorist organizations, and I am committed to good relations with our surroundings and the world (most notably Syria)...I am committed to working to achieve a civil state, and if it fails, I am committed to working to find a system suitable for us that we can agree on as Lebanese...I am committed to pluralism and diversity, preserving the unity of Lebanon, and accepting to live together, even if we are different..."

Bassil pledged commitment to preserving the rights of those he represents and working to thrive within the framework of the Levant, "which gives us openness, a broad scope, and preserves our freedom and characteristics."

===========R.Sh.