Senator Robert Menendez speaks with Senator Jim Risch during a hearing in Washington, April 26, 2022. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — Two top senators from the US Senate's foreign relations committee urged US President Joe Biden on Tuesday to back Lebanese presidential candidates who "will be accountable to the Lebanese people" after nearly six months of executive vacuum in the country.
This follows reports claiming France is supporting the unofficial presidential candidate Sleiman Frangieh, the Marada Movement head who is backed by Hezbollah and is close to Syria's Assad regime.
Lebanon has been without a president since the end of former president Michel Aoun's mandate on Oct. 31, while a caretaker government has been handling local affairs since May.
In a letter Tuesday addressed to Biden, US Senators Jim Risch and Bob Menendez said they remain "discouraged by the ongoing political deadlock, engineered by Hezbollah and its allies, like Nabih Berri, to wear down the opposition to its preferred candidate at the expense of candidates with broader support who are more willing to tackle Lebanon’s many challenges."
"We strongly urge your administration to clearly reinforce the urgent need for the formation of a Lebanese government that is committed to governing transparently and addressing the desperate needs of the Lebanese people, rather than enriching cronies or enabling bad actors like Hezbollah to further derail Lebanese democracy," the senators added.
"Procedural games at the expense of meaningful reforms and good governance only serve to undermine Lebanese and regional stability."
Meanwhile, France is accused of backing Frangieh’s candidacy in exchange for the designation of Nawaf Salam — former Lebanese ambassador to the UN and current judge at the International Court of Justice — as prime minister.
Several leading figures of the anti-Hezbollah camp in Lebanon have expressed their displeasure with France’s approach to the Lebanese presidential elections.
In December 2022, Risch and Menendez sent a letter to Biden calling on his administration to impose sanctions on Lebanese lawmakers for hampering the formation of a new government and financial reform.
Washington recently issued fresh sanctions against an international network of 52 individuals and entities operating out of Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Britain who allegedly supported Nazem Said Ahmad, a Lebanese businessman suspected of financing Hezbollah.