Le premier ministre désigné Saad Hariri à l'issue des consultations parlementaires du 23 octobre 2020. Crédit Photo: Parlement Libanais
Le premier ministre désigné Saad Hariri à l'issue des consultations parlementaires du 23 octobre 2020. Crédit Photo: Parlement Libanais

Le Président Russe Vladimir Poutine aurait assuré le premier ministre désigné Saad Hariri du soutien russe au Liban, au cours d’une conversation téléphonique entre les 2 hommes, indique un communiqué du bureau du premier ministre. Pour rappel, Saad Hariri se trouve actuellement en Russie où il devait rencontrer Vladimir Poutine en personne. On ignore si cette rencontre est toujours prévue au programme.

Saad Hariri aurait informé le Président Russe des derniers développements locaux et notamment de ses efforts pour former un nouveau cabinet. La situation économique et la crise que traverse actuellement le Pays des Cèdres étaient également au programme des discussions.

De son côté Vladmir Poutine a confirmé le soutien de la Russie à la souveraineté, à l’indépendance et à l’intégrité territoriale du Liban.

Les 2 hommes ont convenu d’oeuvrer ensemble au retour des réfugiés syriens présents au Liban et de renforcer les relations commerciales entre les 2 pays, tout comme dans le domaine sanitaire et la fourniture des vaccins russes au Pays des Cèdres.

A country without a government as the economic crisis hits it hard

Lebanon has been without government since the resignation, on August 10, of outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab.

The formation of a new government is considered as one of the preconditions for the relaunch of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund in order to obtain the release of financial aid from the international community in the face of the economic crisis that Lebanon is going through.

Following Mustafa Adib’s failure to form a cabinet, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned following major protests in October 2019, was tasked with forming a new government in October 2020.

In an attempt to unblock the situation, the former prime minister promised the Amal movement to allocate the portfolio of the finance ministry to a member of the Shiite community. He also reiterated that Lebanon could do without a state of default, thus denying the gravity of the economic crisis however experienced by the population, with 55% of it now living below the poverty line while the economic recession has reached 29% according to some reports for the year 2020.

However, Saad Hariri’s proposals for an 18-member cabinet clash with the Presidency of the Republic, who points out that if the Shiite and Sunni communities choose their representatives, the Christian representatives in the new cabinet would also be chosen by the former. designated minister. General Aoun de facto considers that the current proposals of the Prime Minister contravene both the Lebanese constitution and the national pact.

The latter, for his part, accuses the head of state of wanting to obtain a blocking third party within his new cabinet.

Un commentaire?