"Lebanese Forces" media office issued the following statement:

"MP Gebran Bassil appears to believe that Lebanon is divided between those who are with him and those who are against him. This logic is not fundamentally unfamiliar to him, especially given his affiliation with a school of thought that consistently alleges a cosmic conspiracy against it. However, the truth is that his opportunistic and self-centered policies consistently place him in an obstructive position to the state's progress. He collides with forces that reject the existence of weapons outside the state, condemn sovereignty violations, and confront the partisanship of appointments he approved yesterday. He admitted that his problem with the army commander stems from the latter's loyalty to the institution, not to the individual he appointed."

In response to MP Bassil's attack on the army commander and those advocating for his extension, the Lebanese Forces, in its counterattack, addresses three points:

-Firstly, the Lebanese Forces has not changed its stance of refusing legislation in the absence of the president. However, it notes exceptions related to circumstances, invoking the principle that "necessity overrides prohibitions." The current utmost necessity, which prompted it to bypass the refusal of legislation during the presidential vacuum, is related to the country's security and the people. Constitutions are designed to serve the people, ensuring stability, and not for destabilizing actions.

-Secondly, MP Bassil attempted to undermine the extension by deliberately casting it as a deprivation of someone's rightful position, ignoring three fundamental realities:

"The first reality: In exceptional circumstances, everything freezes, and Lebanon is currently in the midst of a war even if MP Bassil ignores it. The reason behind it is that his ally in the Mar Mikhael agreement entangles Lebanon in Iran's regional agendas.

The second reality: In the absence of the President, the army commander remains in his position until the election of a new president who can appoint a new commander. The military institution differs from others, especially in Lebanon, a country living amidst a volcano with unstable conditions.

The third reality: There is no comparison between extending a presidential vacuum and extending a military leadership. Those who extended the presidential vacuum for two and a half years for personal gains, relying on illegal weapons, have no right to speak about an extension necessitated by the conditions of war, the country, the vacancy, and the crisis."

-Thirdly, the claim that one ambassador pressured the Lebanese Forces to endorse the extension is nothing but another fabrication from MP Bassil, who is well aware that if the Lebanese Forces succumbed to ambassadorial pressure, it would not have voted for General Michel Aoun. Furthermore, when the Lebanese Forces has been articulating for months the compelling national reasons for the extension, this matter was not yet a subject in diplomatic circles.