2023-06-24 14:44:10
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.
“I will return to Beirut very soon, because time does not work in favor of Lebanon,” Le Drian said in a statement.
After his arrival in Beirut on Wednesday, Le Drian met with prominent political officials to try to persuade them to overcome their differences and pave the way for electing a president for the republic.
He added, “I will work to facilitate a constructive and inclusive dialogue among the Lebanese in order to reach a solution that is at the same time consensual and effective to get out of the institutional void and carry out the necessary reforms for Lebanon’s sustainable advancement.”
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.
On Friday, Le Drian met with the ambassadors of the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar, the five countries that participated in a meeting on Lebanon held on February 6 in Paris.
He also held talks with potential presidential candidates.
And while the Lebanese file appears 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 in Lebanon.
Le Drian visited Lebanon repeatedly while he was Minister of Foreign Affairs, as part of French efforts to support Lebanon in overcoming its crises. He has always warned, in harsh statements, against the “neglect” of political forces, even accusing them two years ago of “leading the country to death,” and describing Lebanon as “the Titanic without the orchestra.”
On June 7, French President Emmanuel Macron appointed him as a special envoy for Lebanon to help find a “consensual and effective” solution to the successive Lebanese crises.
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
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