by news.middleeast-24.com — The former US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, David Schenker, confirmed that “the Free Patriotic Movement went through a very difficult time in the elections, and the United States held it responsible for its actions, which it considered corrupt.” In an interview with LBCI, Schenker said: “The head of the movement, Gebran Bassil, was one of Hezbollah’s main allies and was responsible for the financial collapse in Lebanon by not taking any decisions clearly to help Lebanon.” He added, “I recommend going to the Washington Institute website and not receiving news from Al-Manar or Al-Mayadeen. I only expressed my concern that the opposition is divided and that there are many groups that have spread and that they will compete against each other.” He believed that “civil society has so far won about 10 seats, which is a good thing, but perhaps they could have won more if they had united in some way and entered as a coherent opposition to civil society,” considering that “it is remarkable that all these pro-Syrian and pro-Assad candidates such as Arslan, Wahhab and Faisal Karami Farzli and Asaad Hardan were not voted for.”

He revealed that, “I do not think that my support for the opposition in the Lebanese elections interfered with internal affairs. I am a public figure here and I am not an official in the US government.”