Gebran Bassil

Gebran Gerge Bassil (جبران جرجي باسيل; born 21 June 1970) is a Lebanese politician who is the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement since 2015 and leader of the Strong Lebanon bloc in the Lebanese parliament since 2018.

He received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in civil engineering from the American University of Beirut in 1992 and 1993 respectively.

He was a member of a number of associations: the Lebanese Red Cross and Rotary Club of Batroun, Lebanon.

Between the years of 1998 and 2005, Bassil was an activist in various positions in the Free Patriotic Movement.

A Maronite Christian, he is the son-in-law of President Michel Aoun, and has been his most senior advisor since 2005.

Born in Batroun, Bassil joined the FPM, becoming a prominent activist in it.

He ran in the general election of 2005 and 2009, and was appointed as the Minister of Telecommunications in the First Cabinet of Saad Hariri.

In 2005, he became a candidate in the general elections in the district of Batroun but did not succeed in being elected.

From 2005 to 2008, Bassil was head of the Free Patriotic Movement.

He served as the Minister of telecommunications in the Lebanese cabinet led by Fouad Siniora from May 2008 to June 2009, and then as the minister of energy in the cabinet headed by Saad Hariri Bassil lost the general elections held in 2009.

In 2011, Bassil and all ministers of the opposition announced their resignation, leading to the collapse of the government.

He subsequently held the position of Minister of Energy and Water between 2011 and 2014, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants from 2014 to 2020.

On 12 January 2011, the government collapsed after Bassil announced that all ten opposition ministers had resigned following months of warnings by Hezbollah that it would not remain inactive should there be indictments against the group.

The New York Times suggested the resignations came after the collapse of talks between Syria and Saudi Arabia to ease tensions in Lebanon.

He served as the Minister of Energy and Water in the cabinet headed by Najib Mikati since June 2011, and assumed the role of Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants as of February 2014.

He won a parliamentary seat for Batroun district and the Maronite sect in the general election in 2018.

In the general election of 2018, Bassil was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the North III district.

During his tenure as the Minister of Energy and Water, he promised to provide electricity 24-hours a day; hence, he officiated a campaign to explore offshore oil and gas in the Eastern Mediterranean, and to generate power by floating electricity-generating turbines off the Lebanese coast through Turkish company Karpowership.

However, the plan did not realize due to the continuous political disagreements in Lebanon.

Lebanon's president Aoun and some Lebanese officials including Bassil believed that the abrupt resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri was made under coercion by Saudis and have claimed that the Saudis have kept him hostage.

This led Bassil to visit multiple European countries and meet with senior EU leaders to rally diplomatic support for Lebanon and its stability.

During his European tour, he met with EU's High Representative and Vice-President of the Commission Federica Mogherini in Brussels, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, German FM Sigmar Gabriel, Russian FM Sergei Lavrov and French President Emmanuel Macron.

He was highly targeted in the widespread Lebanese protests which began by the end of 2019.

Bassil remains a controversial figure in the country.

He is often accused of corruption, racism and nepotism, and was labeled the "most hated man in Lebanon".

These claims are denied by Bassil, stating that they are part of a wider character assassination plot.

He was sanctioned by the United States under the Magnitsky Act.

Bassil was born into a Maronite Christian family.

On 3 November 2019, thousands of Lebanese Free Patriotic Movement supporters attended a protest in support of President Michel Aoun, the founder of the party.

During the protest, FPM leader Gebran Bassil made a personal statement for the first time in over 13 days.

Bassil claimed "We should block roads for MPs who refuse corruption-combating laws, politicians who escape accountability and judges who do not implement the law."

He also demanded lifting banking secrecy on political officials' accounts and insisting accountability, as well as a return of misused or stolen public funds.

According to France 24, In light of this week's World Economic Forum, the expected participation of Lebanon's outgoing foreign minister Gebran Bassil triggered a strong public protest, demanding the cancellation of his invitation.

However, Bassil maintains that the protesters who chanted against him do not make up the majority of Lebanese and that he believes the people of Lebanon want change, but he argued that he's not leaving until voters drive him out in elections, according to The Washington Post.

The former foreign minister further claimed that he came to Davos "on his own expenses".

On 6 November 2020, the United States Trump administration imposed sanctions on Bassil under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act over "systemic corruption" and ties with the Shia movement Hezbollah under Executive Order E.O. 13818.

A senior U.S. official said Bassil's support for Hezbollah was "every bit of the motivation" for targeting him for sanctions.

The sanctions froze all of his assets in the U.S. as well as his bank accounts in U.S. dollars.

Private sector banks and U.S.-based businesses are prohibited to do business with him.

He was denied access to the United States and may encounter problems getting a Schengen visa.