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Hariri says France initiative is last chance to save Lebanon

October 13, 2020 at 10:55 am

Lebanon’s then Prime Minister-Designate Saad al-Hariri on 18 August 2020 [Saad al-Hariri Press Office/Handout – Anadolu Agency]

Former Lebanese Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, said the French initiative proposed by President Emmanuel Macron is the last chance to stop Lebanon from collapsing and to rebuild Beirut.

In a statement issued following a meeting with President Michel Aoun, Hariri said: “The initiative is based on forming a government of non-partisan specialists who would carry out certain reforms.”

Based on the initiative, he continued, the Lebanese political parties will not participate in the government for a few months until financial and economic reforms are implemented.

“Everyone knows that all the governments that had been formed on traditional foundations have failed to implement reforms and brought the country to a great collapse,” the statement said.

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Hariri explained in the statement that the formation of a government of specialists will allow Macron to mobilise the international community to invest in Lebanon.

“I will send a team to meet with the parliamentary blocs to ensure their commitment to the French provisions, and if the result of the contacts is negative, and someone has changed his opinion or changed the concepts of the initiative, especially regarding the economic aspect, let him kindly assume his responsibility before the Lebanese people,” he added.

On Thursday, Hariri announced that he is a potential candidate to form the next government after the resignation of Mustapha Adib.