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French President Emmanuel Macron asked, in an interview with three media outlets, including the Lebanese newspaper “An-Nahar”, published on Friday, the need to “change the leadership” in Lebanon and “remove” the political leaders who hinder reforms. Lebanon is still without a president since the end of former President Michel Aoun’s mandate, despite holding so far ten sessions dedicated to this purpose, due to strong divisions among deputies.
“We need to change the leadership of this country” and “remove” the political leaders who hinder the reforms, he underlined. French President Emmanuel Macron Talking about Lebanon In a press interview.
In an interview with three press organizations, including the Lebanese newspaper “An-Nahar”, the French president, who since September 2020 has been unsuccessfully trying to urge the Lebanese political class to adopt the reforms necessary to get the country out of the political crisis and economic crisis, he considered that “Lebanon’s problem is solving people’s problems and alienating those who don’t know how to do it”.
And he believed what is needed next is “to restructure the financial system and develop a plan with an honest president, an honest prime minister and a working group that implements it and has the backing of the street.” “The leadership of this country needs to be changed,” she added.
Clear splits
Lebanon is still without a president since former President Michel Aoun’s mandate ended on October 31. Representatives, deeply divided between the pro-Iranian Hezbollah camp and the anti-Hezbollah camp, have failed to elect a new president, despite holding ten sessions so far to that end.
A resigned government with limited powers, led by Najib Mikati, governs the country, which is suffering from a severe economic collapse.
Macron stressed the need to “help” Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who “is trying, despite everything, to do the best he can”.
Responding to a question about the commander of the Lebanese army, General Joseph Aoun, who is considered one of the most important personalities whose names are being proposed for the presidency but is not an official candidate, Macron declined to delve into “the question of the persons and names “, stressing that “the question will not be resolved if there are no strategies and plans behind the names”.
“An alternative political solution”
“What interests me are Lebanese men and women, not those who live at their expense”, added the French president, who regretted the massive emigration of young people.
He stressed that he wanted to “help the emergence of an alternative political solution (…) without any leniency with the political forces”, inviting “not to concede anything to those who have influenced in recent years and want to stay and practice extortion.”
Macron, who returned from Amman, where he attended the “Baghdad 2” regional conference on Iraq, revealed that he will work “in the coming weeks on a similar framework with Lebanon”.
He underlined that he is “convinced” that “the Lebanese, Syrian and other issues can only be resolved by creating a framework for discussion that includes Iran, given its regional influence”.
France 24/AFP
