Since the end of former President Michel Aoun’s term at the end of October, parliament has failed 12 times to elect a president, amid an intensifying political division between Hezbollah and its opponents. No party has a majority that enables it alone to bring its candidate to the position.
Le Drian began his visit, which will last until Thursday, with a meeting with Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, provided that he will meet the head of the caretaker government and leaders of parliamentary blocs on Wednesday.
A French diplomatic source told AFP that Le Drian is visiting Lebanon “to present the results of the Doha meeting and his meetings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Following a meeting in Doha on July 17, representatives of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, France, the United States and Qatar called on Lebanese politicians to “take immediate steps to break the impasse”.
The diplomatic source stated that Le Drian “will try to reconcile points of view and create the appropriate conditions for reaching a consensual solution” that will end the presidential vacancy.
For months, the country has been running a caretaker government that is unable to take necessary decisions, while the international community requires urgent reforms in order to provide financial support that helps Lebanon rise from its chronic economic predicament.
And while the Lebanese file seems to be absent from international and even regional attention, France has been leading, in vain, for months a movement to accelerate the election of a president.
Following his appointment, on June 7, as a special envoy for Lebanon, to help find a “consensual and effective” solution to the successive Lebanese crises, Le Drian visited Lebanon for the first time during the same month. At the time, he warned that “time is not working in favor of Lebanon.”
The French official had previously visited Lebanon repeatedly during his tenure as Foreign Minister, as part of French efforts to support Lebanon in overcoming its crises. In his statements, he has always warned against “neglecting” the political forces, even accusing them two years ago of “leading the country to death.” He described Lebanon as “the Titanic without the orchestra”.
The current presidential vacancy in Lebanon worsens the economic situation in a country that has been witnessing an economic collapse since 2019, which the World Bank ranked among the worst in the world since 1850.
© 2023 AFP
2023-07-25 15:04:09
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