Strong Lebanon () is the parliamentary bloc of the

Free Patriotic Movement The Free Patriotic Movement (, ) is a Lebanese political party. Founded by Michel Aoun in 1994, the party is currently led by Aoun's son-in-law Gebran Bassil since 2015. History Background For many years, while Michel Aoun was and exiled i ...

and their allies in the

Lebanese Parliament The Lebanese Parliament (, ) is the unicameral national parliament of the Lebanon, Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in Electoral district, multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's divers ...

. Headed by

Gebran Bassil Gebran Gerge Bassil (; 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. A Maronite Christian, he is the son-in-l ...

, it consisted of 29 deputies after the 2018 general election and shrunk to 17 deputies after the

2022 Lebanese general election General elections were held in Lebanon on 15 May 2022 (one week earlier for overseas voters and one day earlier for ballot workers) to elect all 128 members of the Parliament of Lebanon, Lebanese Parliament. The country has for several years be ...

Election summary

2018–2022 session deputies

Timeline

17 out of 29 MP from the bloc voted for

Nabih Berri Nabih Mustafa Berri ( ; born 28 January 1938) is a Lebanese politician who has been serving as Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon since 1992. He heads the Amal Movement and its parliamentary wing, Development and Liberation Bloc. Early lif ...

in the 2018 Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament election. Elie Ferzli was elected as Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon. At the beginning of the

17 October Revolution The 17 October Protests, commonly referred to as the 17 October Revolution or Hirak or Thawrah (), were a series of civil protests in Lebanon that began after the Lebanese cabinet announced financial measures on 17 October 2019. These national ...

, Neemat Frem, Chamel Roukoz and

Michel Moawad Michel Moawad (; born 4 June 1972) is a Lebanese politician. He is a member of the Renewal Bloc in the Parliament of Lebanon, Lebanese Parliament representing the Zgharta District. Since his election to Parliament, he has been also elected as a ...

left the bloc. After the

2020 Beirut explosion On 4 August 2020, a major explosion occurred in Beirut, Lebanon, triggered by the ignition of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. The chemical, confiscated in 2014 from the cargo ship and stored at the Port of Beirut without adequate safety me ...

, Michel Daher left the bloc. In April 2021, Elie Ferzli left the bloc. On 1 March 2022, MP Hikmat Dib resigned from FPM causing the bloc to shrink to 23 MP.

2022–2026 session deputies

Timeline

4 out of 21 MP from the bloc voted for

in the 2022 Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament election. Elias Bou Saab was elected as Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon. On 23 June 2022, Tashnaq and Yehya named

Najib Mikati Najib Azmi Mikati (born 24 November 1955) is a Lebanese politician and businessman who served as the 52nd prime minister of Lebanon from 2021 to 2025. He previously served in this post as the 48th and 45th prime minister from 2011 to 2014 and i ...

as prime minister unlike the rest of the bloc. On 10 September 2022,

kicked out ex-MP Ziad Assouad and ex-MP

Mario Aoun Mario Aoun (born 1951) is a Lebanese physician and politician. He was a member of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) led by Michel Aoun. He was the minister of social affairs between 2008 and 2009. Early life and education Aoun was born into a ...

. On 14 September 2022, FPM boycotted the parliament session due to

Bachir Gemayel Bachir Pierre Gemayel (, ; 10 November 1947 – 14 September 1982) was a Lebanese militia commander who led the Lebanese Forces, the military wing of the Kataeb Party, in the Lebanese Civil War and was elected President of Lebanon in 1982. ...

assassination memorial. On 13 October 2022, FPM boycotted the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

session due to 13 October memorial. On 10 November 2022,

Hagop Pakradounian Hagop Pakradounian (, ), originally Hagop Pakradouni is a Lebanese politician of Armenian descent, and former leader of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation in Lebanon. Hagop Pakradounian was born as Hagop Pakradouni in Beirut, in 1956. Pakr ...

criticized his colleague in the bloc Jimmy Jabbour for participating in a memorial to the martyrs of the Republic of Azerbaijan in

Akkar Akkar District () is the only district in Akkar Governorate, Lebanon. It is coextensive with the governorate and covers an area of . The UNHCR estimated the population of the district to be 389,899 in 2015, including 106,935 registered refugees o ...

. On 6 December 2022, Tashnaq kicked out MP Bouchikian which shrunk the Strong Lebanon bloc to 20. Elias Bou Saab was reportedly kicked out of the Free Patriotic Movement bloc in April 2024 in which FPM sources cited political disagreements since the beginning of the 2022 parliament. Disagreements mostly include choice of presidential candidates and ideological differences. In August 2024, Alain Aoun was expelled from FPM for his lack of alignments with the parliamentary bloc, like refusing to vote for Jihad Azour in the

2022–2025 Lebanese presidential election An indirect election of the president of Lebanon took place from 29 September 2022 until 9 January 2025 to determine the successor of term-limited incumbent Michel Aoun. The Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, commander of the Lebanese Armed ...

. On 7 August 2024, Simon Abi Ramia resigned from the

citing "individualism" within the party and disagreements with its leader

. Ibrahim Kanaan resigned from the

on August 14, 2024

References

{{Reflist Free Patriotic Movement politicians March 8 Alliance Parliamentary blocs of Lebanon

Election summary

2018–2022 session deputies

Timeline

2022–2026 session deputies

Timeline

See also

References