Long uncertain due to the absence of a meeting request from the French authorities to Saad Hariri, the meeting Jean-Yves le Drian finally took place the meeting between the prime minister designate and the French Minister of Affairs foreigners, not at the Maison du Center in accordance with the protocol but at the Residence des Pins.
As a reminder, the absence of any request for a meeting had gone so far as to tell the officials of the Current of the Future, party of the Prime Minister, that the latter, disowned by the country at the forefront in the Lebanese file, could be withdrawn. of his role as Prime Minister-designate.
Indeed, during his stay in Lebanon Jean-Yves le Drian met the President of the Republic, General Aoun and the president of the chamber Nabih Berri, in accordance with the protocol, by traveling to their homes. These meetings were brief but took place according to the rules of the art of a minister’s trip to a country abroad.
In the end, the Jean-Yves le Drian meeting took place at the Résidence des Pins, residence of the French ambassador, the very place of the proclamation of the state of Greater Lebanon, more than a century ago. , a place therefore symbolic of France’s role in Lebanon, after the prime minister-designate had requested a meeting and not in accordance with protocol, thus relegating his position no longer as prime minister but to a simple character.
For Saad Hariri, the interest was to see being able not to lose face to his supporters who are probably not aware of the details of the upstream protocol that governs this kind of meeting.
The meeting is also qualified as brief and it is therefore a formal slap inflicted on Saad Hariri by France in reality even if for the form, the latter did not want to appear to be isolated. France thus expresses its disappointment in an elegant and diplomatic manner to those who do not support its initiative with words and not deeds, as many diplomatic sources already pointed out via a Saudi newspaper.
France, moreover, no longer hesitates to put in the same pile, the whole of the current political class, accused of pushing Lebanon towards collective suicide. The international community, no offense to some, such as the Prime Minister designate, considers the Land of the Cedars to be bankrupt and that the situation can only worsen at present for lack of unblocking negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.