Bassil: FPM will not join new government on Hariri terms

Lebanon's largest Christian political bloc will not join a new government under the terms insisted on by caretaker premier Saad Hariri, but it will not obstruct the formation of a new cabinet, its leader Gebran Bassil said on Thursday.
 
Bassil, an ally of the powerful Shi'ite group Hezbollah, called for the formation of a government made up entirely of technocrats including its prime minister, appearing to leave the door open for participation on different terms.
 
"If Prime Minister Hariri insists on the equation 'either me or nobody else' (as prime minister) ... we in the Free Patriotic Movement ... are not concerned in participating in such a government, because its fate will be certain failure," Bassil said.