Labor Minister Boutros Harb told the Voice of Lebanon radio station on Monday that “Batroun is not real estate that is possible to buy and sell.”

Energy Minister Gebran Bassil told An-Nahar newspaper two weeks ago that Batroun would probably witness an electoral showdown, adding that opponents of the Free Patriotic Movement had been holding night-time meetings in Batroun that aimed to interfere in the elections and obstruct consensus, a reference to Harb.

Harb also told the radio station that “[we] welcome Gebran Bassil to the world of politics on the basis that [he was] a minister who was appointed. However, he has yet to be elected as an MP.”

The labor minister said that his attempts to reach consensus in his hometown of Tannourine in the Batroun district failed, adding that it would now be up to voters to choose members for the municipal council during the elections set for May 30.

-NOW Lebanon

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