Le ministre français en charge des affaires étrangères, Jean-Yves le Drian a indiqué que des mesures seront prises ces prochains jours “contre ceux qui obstruent une solution à la crise au Liban, menaces à peine voilée d’instaurer des sanctions économiques à l’encontre de certains hommes politiques.
Le ministre s’exprimait alors devant le sénat.
.@JY_LeDrian: “Les forces politiques libanaises refusent de s’entendre. Leur aveuglement est un crime de non assistance à pays en danger, et pourtant des engagements avaient été pris”#QAG pic.twitter.com/USsyRttpFD
— Public Sénat (@publicsenat) April 7, 2021
Il faisait ainsi allusion à l’effondrement économique du Pays des Cèdres et aux troubles sociaux et économiques qui pourraient se produire dans les prochains mois, alors que le Liban reste sans gouvernement depuis plus de 10 mois. La formation d’un cabinet gouvernemental est en effet l’une des conditions nécessaires à la fois à la relance de négociation avec le fonds monétaire international et au déblocage de l’aide économique de la communauté internationale.
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.
