The leader of Al-Marada party, former Minister and MP Sleiman Franjieh lashed out at President Michel Aoun and the head of the FPM, MP Gebran Bassil, accusing them of lying and politicizing the defective fuel scandal.
In a press conference on Monday, Franjieh said that recent investigations over the defected fuel file - which included the head of the Energy Ministry’s oil facilities department Sarkis Hleis – were politicized.
“Sarkis Hleis will appear before the judiciary, but not before the justice and the judges of Gebran Bassil,” he said.
Stressing that the official was innocent, he said: “The judiciary will decide whether Sarkis Hleis is guilty or not and we consider the counterfeit fuel file politicized because the side and judges who raised it are known,” Franjieh added.
On a different note, the Marada leader asserted that there were no offshore oil or gas reserves in Lebanon, revealing that French giant Total “is studying the option to pay the penalty clause and leave Lebanon.”
“Lebanon is not an oil country and has no trace of gas in it. They have lied to you,” he underlined.
Turning to Aoun, Franjieh launched the fiercest attack at the president since his election in 2016.
“You have lied to people in 1989 and you destroyed Lebanon and the Christian regions. You lied to people in 2005 and now you are lying to people. Your strength came from popular support and today your strength stems from being in power. But when power wanes, you will become nothing. If the judiciary won’t put you on trial, history will,” he said.
The presidential office issued a statement saying that most of Franjieh’s remarks were baseless, false, and “not worthy of a response.”
The statement added that “insults” thrown by the Marada chief “harm Lebanon’s reputation, interest, economy, role, and presence in its neighborhood and the world, especially what he mentioned about the issue of oil and gas exploration.”
