MMFD leader Nahas meets with French left-wing politician Mélenchon in Paris

BEIRUT – The general secretary of Lebanese opposition party Citizens in a State (MMDF), Charbel Nahas, on Monday met Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the French left-wing party “Insoumise” (often translated as “Rebellious France”) and candidate for the French presidential elections taking place in April.

Here’s what we know:

    • “We discussed the many similarities between what is happening in Lebanon and what is happening elsewhere in the world, especially in France," Nahas told L'Orient-Le Jour. “Despite enormous differences in context, the two countries are preparing for an important electoral deadline. In both cases, there is a subservience of society to growing financialization, and an increasingly visible communitarianism with Islamophobia and racism which are spreading very quickly in France,” he added. Parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place in Lebanon on May 15.

    • The “Rebels” and Citizens in a State have agreed to create a joint task force “composed of lawyers and economists” to hold banks and auditing organizations to account, beyond Lebanon.

    • This meeting with Mélenchon comes after Nahas’ movement had not attended a meeting organized with the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, in Beirut. "The supposed French initiative, and the call for the formation of a 'mission government', aimed to revive the current political system, which participated in the robbery of the savings of Lebanese citizens, their unions and social security. We stand apart from religious leaders, since our international meetings are not aimed at obtaining aid or sponsorship,” Nahas elaborated.

    • Taking a critical stance toward Paris's intervention in Lebanon, Nahas also said that he also discussed "the manipulative and manipulated role" of France in Lebanon with Mélenchon.

    • According to Citizens in a State, no meeting with other French presidential candidates was planned. This is not the first time that Charbel Nahas has spoken with left-wing figures abroad, previously meeting with former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis.