Gebran Bassil

[clarification needed][10] On 12 January 2011, the government collapsed after Bassil announced that all ten opposition ministers had resigned following months of warnings by Hezbollah that it would not remain inactive should there be indictments against the group.

[11] During his tenure as the Minister of Energy and Water, he promised to provide electricity 24-hours a day; hence, he officiated a campaign to explore offshore oil and gas in the Eastern Mediterranean,[12] and to generate power by floating electricity-generating turbines off the Lebanese coast through Turkish company Karpowership.

This led Bassil to visit multiple European countries and meet with senior EU leaders to rally diplomatic support for Lebanon and its stability.

During his European tour, he met with EU's High Representative and Vice-President of the Commission Federica Mogherini in Brussels,[16] Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu,[17] German FM Sigmar Gabriel,[18] Russian FM Sergei Lavrov[19] and French President Emmanuel Macron.

[22] According to France 24, In light of this week's World Economic Forum, the expected participation of Lebanon's outgoing foreign minister Gebran Bassil triggered a strong public protest, demanding the cancellation of his invitation.

[23] However, Bassil maintains that the protesters who chanted against him do not make up the majority of Lebanese and that he believes the people of Lebanon want change, but he argued that he's not leaving until voters drive him out in elections, according to The Washington Post.

[24][25] On 6 November 2020, the United States Trump administration imposed sanctions on Bassil under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act over "systemic corruption" and ties with the Shia movement Hezbollah under Executive Order E.O.

[31] President Michel Aoun assigned his foreign minister Charbel Wehbe to contact the United States in order to obtain evidence or necessary to take the necessary legal measures against Bassil.

He also added that he joined the government as Foreign Minister to take advantage of diplomatic immunity, and congratulated Joe Biden for his win in the 2020 presidential election.

In the leaked footage, Bassil accused Berri of urging Shiite businessmen to boycott a diaspora conference organized by the Foreign Ministry in Abidjan.

The bill drew criticism for not applying to women in marriages with men from neighbouring countries which activists argue is a violation of their rights.

[42] In July 2019, a document was published, in which a consultant, Mario LaSala, mentioned that he worked on lobbying meetings between Bassil and American senators.

The song was sung in the street and was reproduced and parodied in various forms in popular social media posts and mass-forwarded WhatsApp messages until it was nearly ubiquitously known in Lebanon.

[47] Its rapidly spreading popularity led some social media users to dub Bassil "the most cursed politician in the world for the shortest period of time.

Bassil with then Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz , 2016