No request for an appointment with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri was made by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian who is expected to arrive in Lebanon this Wednesday evening as part of a 2-day visit, so that certain information circulate, including within the Current of the Future concerning a possible withdrawal of the latter.
The deputy Hadi Hobeiche – just like even the vice-president of the Courant du Futur Mustapha Alloush – yesterday, all 2 close to Saad Hariri thus confirmed that no meeting between the designated prime minister Saad Hariri and Jean-Yves le Drian is planned.
MP Mohammed Hajjar also confirmed that a withdrawal of the Prime Minister-designate would be possible in the event of the continued blocking of government formation.
This visit comes as part of a possible relaunch of the process of forming a new government or, where appropriate, the implementation of sanctions targeting political figures accused of blocking this process and of corruption.
For its part, the Courant du Futur of Prime Minister designate Saad Hariri indicates that the latter will withdraw « if options contrary to his convictions are imposed on him ». However, French diplomatic sources accuse him of only supporting the French initiative in words and not in deed.
The tension between France and Saad Hariri could thus lead to a new government crisis.
No meeting with Saad Hariri for the scheduled time but rumors of a meeting with Gébran Bassil
Le Courant Patriotique Libre, for its part, calls on the Prime Minister-designate to immediately submit a complete list of the cabinet he wishes to form, clearly including the distribution of portfolios to sects « and having to specify » the authorities who should appoint non-partisan and specialized ministers « .
The Cpl recalls that seven months have passed since the resignation of the outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab and that « the birth of the government should be the product of a real and honest dialogue between the Lebanese in this critical period », alluding to the current crisis and the necessary release of international aid, which can only be done with a functional cabinet.
« It is unfair to wait for foreign forces and their developments and changes to mature the alignment of the government, when the urgent situation in Lebanon should have matured it from the first day of the appointment of the prime minister designate, » concluded the CPL, an allusion to remarks made by those close to the Prime Minister who made the creation of a new cabinet conditional on the conclusion of negotiations between Iran and the United States.
In addition, some sources indicate that the French minister could meet the leader of the CPL, Gébran Bassil, with whom he could discuss the sanctions which will target certain Lebanese personalities.
