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Beirut (AFP)
On Thursday, Lebanese President Michel Aoun, during his meeting with the French President’s adviser for the Near East, Patrick Dorrell, affirmed his country’s adherence to the Paris initiative aimed at lifting Lebanon out of political paralysis and the cycle of economic collapse.
Dorrell arrived in Beirut on Wednesday night on a visit that will last until tomorrow Friday, interspersed with meetings with senior officials and prominent political forces, in a step that comes after the expiration of the second term granted by French President Emmanuel Macron to the Lebanese political class to form a government.
Aoun said during the meeting, as announced by the Lebanese presidency, “We adhere to the French initiative in the interest of the country,” considering that “the situation requires broad national consultation and broad consensus to form a government that can accomplish the required tasks.” .
The French envoy also met with the President of Parliament, Nabih Berri, who was quoted by local media about his affirmation also of the French initiative and the need to implement reforms, which are demanded by the international community. He said: “The only way in and out for the salvation of Lebanon is the achievement of today’s government before tomorrow, and its ministers are specialists.”
In the afternoon, Durrell is supposed to meet with the head of the Hezbollah parliamentary bloc, Muhammad Raad.
The daily “Al-Akhbar”, close to Hezbollah, quoted sources on Thursday as saying that Dorrell’s visit “is a last attempt to revive the French initiative and pressure political forces to accelerate the formation of the government and begin to implement reforms “.
After the Beirut port bombing on August 4, Macron visited Beirut. He then returned again in early September and announced an initiative that he said all political forces had agreed to, and stipulated the formation of a government within two weeks that would undertake the reform according to a specific program, in exchange for financial assistance from the international community.
But the political forces failed to translate their promises. On September 27, Macron gave the political forces a new deadline of “four to six weeks” to form a government.
On October 22, Aoun assigned Future Movement leader Saad Hariri to form the government, but his efforts so far have yielded no results, amid political divisions that have long obstructed and delayed the formation of governments in the Libano.
It is not clear what happened to the international conference in support of Lebanon, which Macron promised to organize later this month, in case a new government does not see the light in the coming days.
Since last year, Lebanon has witnessed an economic collapse that coincided with an unprecedented decline in the value of the lira. In March, the country defaulted on its external debts and then began negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, which were later suspended due to disagreements between Lebanese negotiators.
© 2020 AFP
