The Lebanese flag lowered to half-mast at the presidential palace in Baabda. (Credit: @LBpresidency/Twitter/File photo)
On Tuesday, France called on Lebanon to seize the opportunity offered by Wednesday's parliamentary session to resolve the political crisis that has plagued the country since October.
The parliament is set to reconvene on June 14 to try once again to elect a president after eight months in office. But parliament is deeply divided between the camp of Hezbollah, which does not have the majority needed to impose its candidate, former minister Sleiman Frangieh, and its opponents, notably Christian parties in favor of Jihad Azour, a senior official of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
France is calling for this deadline to be "taken seriously and used as an opportunity to resolve the crisis," said Anne-Claire Legendre, spokeswoman for the Ministry, at a press briefing. "It goes without saying that we are continuing to call for a way out of the crisis, which has been our message for the past 8 months, and we must not waste any opportunity," she stressed. She also announced that French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna would meet Jean-Yves Le Drian, her predecessor, at the Quai d'Orsay. Le Drian was appointed Emmanuel Macron's "personal envoy for Lebanon,” on Friday.
Catherine Colonna "will be able to report on recent contacts" with Lebanese officials, said Anne-Claire Legendre. “He will be received by the Minister to discuss the follow-up to his defined mission,” she added, pointing out that the aim is to "pursue our efforts to find an urgent solution to the Lebanese crisis, reflecting the priority that French diplomacy gives to this issue."
She also stressed that Jean-Yves Le Drian's mission would take place "in close coordination and consultation" with the French Foreign Ministry.
The spokeswoman also indicated that no date for a possible trip by Le Drian to Lebanon had yet been "communicated." Asked about the possibility of a conference on Lebanon in Paris, the spokeswoman replied: "First of all, we need to evaluate this parliamentary session, which takes place tomorrow."
Last week, Emmanuel Macron appointed his former Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian as his "personal envoy for Lebanon" to "facilitate" a "consensual and effective" solution to the country's serious political impasse.
This article is a translation by L'Orient Today of an AFP information published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.
