Paris, July 16, (dpa/GNA) – France is to host another aid conference for Lebanon on August 4 following prime minister-designate Saad Hariri’s resignation on Thursday after he failed to form a government for nearly nine months.
The meeting is intended to support Lebanon’s civilian population, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday. As a former colonial power, France still has close relations with Lebanon and has organized two aid conferences for the country in the past.
Le Drian sharply criticized Lebanon’s political elite. “This latest development confirms the political deadlock in which Lebanese leaders have deliberately kept the country for months,” he said, adding that parliamentary consultations to determine a new prime minister should start immediately.
Hariri announced his decision after meeting President Michel Aoun and said they had failed to reach an agreement on his proposed government line-up.
Hariri was picked to form the government after the resignation of prime minister Hassan Diab in the aftermath of a deadly explosion in Beirut’s port on August 4, 2020 that devastated large parts of the city.
France, like Germany and other western countries, does not want to support the Lebanese government until it has introduced credible reforms.
Lebanon’s political elite faces allegations of massive corruption. Recently, international pressure to form a government has increased.
The European Union has threatened to impose sanctions on those responsible for the political crisis in Lebanon if necessary.
GNA