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Macron urges Lebanon to 'get rid' of leaders blocking reforms

French president says he wants to "try to help bring a political alternative to life... and to be intractable with political forces."

French President Emmanuel Macron speaking at the "Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership" in Sweimeh by the Dead Sea shore in central-west Jordan on Dec. 20, 2022. (Credit: Yousef Allan/Jordanian Royal Palace/AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron called on Lebanon Friday to "get rid" of its political leaders who have for months blocked reforms vital to save its stricken economy.

"The problem with Lebanon is that we must solve people's problems and get rid of those who cannot do it," Macron said, referring to the country's entrenched political class — widely blamed for the country's financial collapse since late 2019.

"Lebanon must change its leadership," he said in an interview with three media outlets including Lebanon's Annahar newspaper.

Macron has taken the lead in international efforts to bail out the Lebanese economy after a collapse in the value of the Lebanese pound plunged most of the population into poverty.

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International lenders have demanded that Lebanon adopt a program of painful economic reforms in return for releasing billions of dollars in bailout loans.

But deadlock between opposing alliances of the confessional political parties that have dominated Lebanon since the 1975-to-1991 Civil War has left the country with only a caretaker government since an inconclusive May election and a vacant presidency since last month.

Political alternative

"The question is: this caste that lives off Lebanon, does it have the courage to change?" Macron asked, adding that he was dismayed to see the mass emigration of young Lebanese who had taken to the streets at the start of the crisis in late 2019 to demand political and economic reform.

"My answer is to try to help bring a political alternative to life ... and to be intractable with political forces."

"I care about Lebanese men and women, not those living off their backs," he said.

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Macron said the priority now was to have "honest" people as president and as prime minster capable of moving swiftly to restructure Lebanon's failed financial system.

Parliament has convened 10 times over the past two months in a bid to elect a replacement for Michel Aoun, whose mandate as president expired at the end of October.

But it is split between supporters of the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and its opponents, neither of whom have a clear majority.

'Framework of discussion that includes Iran'

Macron would not comment on whether he supported army chief Joseph Aoun as a consensus choice for president.

"I don't want to discuss names. If there isn't a plan and a strategy behind the name, they won't succeed," he said.

Macron, who was speaking on his flight home from a regional summit on Iraq in Jordan, said he would work to organize a conference with a "similar format" for Lebanon in the coming weeks.

He said he was "convinced" that problems in the Middle East can only be resolved "if we find a framework for discussion that includes Iran, given its influence in the region".

Asked further about the role of Hezbollah — Iran's proxy in Lebanon— Emmanuel Macron said that the party "is present, from a security and clandestine point of view but also from an official and elected point of view."

"They are there, taking advantage of the inability of the system, the political apparatus and all of us to solve the problem of the people," he said.

Jordanian electricity

Macron also said he intended to "untangle in the coming weeks" several projects between Lebanon and Jordan, including the supply of electricity.

Electricité du Liban now provides only a few hours of power per day. Projects for the supply of Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity had been launched months ago by the United States, but they are faced with the immobility of the reforms necessary to unlock funding, including the appointment of the regulatory authority of the electricity sector.

A call for applications was however launched two weeks ago by the Ministry of Energy for this purpose.

Finally, regarding a possible visit to Beirut, he said that the "situation of non-decision in Lebanon means that it is not the best time" to visit Lebanon, especially since "the role of France is not to substitute for political forces."

However, he mentioned his intention to go, within a timeframe that he did not specify, to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

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French President Emmanuel Macron called on Lebanon Friday to "get rid" of its political leaders who have for months blocked reforms vital to save its stricken economy."The problem with Lebanon is that we must solve people's problems and get rid of those who cannot do it," Macron said, referring to the country's entrenched political class — widely blamed for the country's...