Names identification - Gebran Bassil
June 7, 2009 by RootSpaceOnline
By Maryam Hoballah
Gebran Gerios Bassil, the Minister of Telecommunications, is running in the Parliamentary elections for the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) block. Another man, also named Gebran Bassil but whose middle name is Estafan, is running against Gebran Gerios Bassil for a seat in the Parliament. Ziad Baroud, the Minster of Interior, stated that if voters put down "Gebran Bassil", the votes will go to the running minister. However, a Lebanese Forces representative stated that a middle name is required for the vote to be counted and if "Gebran Bassil" is simply put, the votes will be discarded. There are accusations circulating that this was done purposely by the March 14th supporters in order to take votes away from the March 8th running candidate. Gebran Bassil, the Minister on the March 8th side, stated that after the elections are over, he will submit an appeal that every vote with the name "Gebran Bassil" should go to him.
