Lebanon’s Deputy Speaker of Parliament Elie Ferzli was reportedly ousted from the Parliamentary bloc Strong Lebanon, which is headed by Gebran Bassil, leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM).
This comes after Ferzli’s unexpected remarks suggesting that the Lebanese Army dissolves the constitution and takes power for a transitional government until Lebanon can restructure itself.
Stating that all Lebanese agree on the transparency and integrity of the Lebanese Army, he was reported saying: “I call on it to take the place of the president, the parliament speaker, and the prime minister, and the entire political class.”
The respect for the Lebanese Army is unanimous across the country. Last month, General Joseph Aoun, the Army Commander, made an unprecedented warning call on the Lebanese officials and mirroring that of the people of the Lebanese Revolution.
“Where are we going? What do you intend to do?” He had questioned back then as the country continues its terrifying collapse and nothing seems stable in the country other than the government formation deadlock and the idleness of the officials.
Ferzli expressed his fears that the officials in power -the FPM and their allies– may intend to use the country’s collapse and potential failure to hold upcoming elections as a pretext to extend President Michel Aoun‘s term.
If that is the case, the scheme comes with too high of a price for the country and its people to pay. It brings to question if the aim is as worth it as to hang Lebanon’s fate on a thread.
In comments to MTV, Ferzli revealed that “there is a systematic process to destroy legitimate institutions in Lebanon, and a coup must be carried out to stop the first coup.”
Calling on the army to take over would hence be the only solution, according to him.
Because of his views, Ferzli was “officially” ousted -in a very cliquey way- when the FPM bloc recently made a new Whatsapp group and excluded him.
In response to that, Ferzli insisted that he had already been out since the October 17 Revolution, Sawt Beirut International reported.
It is to note that this is not the first time a call was made for the Army to take over since October 17 of 2019, but these calls came mainly from desperate people during protests in the streets.
Like Ferzli, many in the country today see no hope other than on the Lebanese Army taking over and ending the abuse of the ruling officials imposing misery on the people, whether by negligence, by idleness, by incompetence, or by personal or political agenda.