UN: in Lebanon, Antonio Guterres calls on leaders not to "paralyze the country"
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on December 19, 2021 in Beirut, Lebanon?
AP - Hassan Ammar
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
The Secretary General of the United Nations ends this Wednesday, December 22 a four-day visit to the land of the cedar.
On the program: the investigation into the port explosion of August 4, 2020, the securing of the border with Israel, but above all the economic and political crisis.
The Lebanese are sinking into misery: 80% of the population now live below the poverty line, and there is total paralysis.
Advertising
Read more
With our correspondent in Beirut,
Noé Pignède
Once again, Antonio Guterres visiting Beirut calls for a transparent investigation into
the explosion of August 4, 2020
.
Once again, the UN Secretary General calls on the international community to mobilize.
And once again, he urges the political class to take responsibility.
"
I asked the Lebanese political leaders to work to put in place reforms that meet the aspirations of the people, and to rekindle hope,
" he declared.
In view of
the suffering that the Lebanese endure
, political leaders do not have the right to be divided and to paralyze the country.
"
► To read also: Lebanon needs 12 to 15 billion dollars, according to the governor of the Central Bank
"Lebanon must first fulfill its part of the contract"
A speech that foreign politicians have been repeating since the start of the Lebanese crisis in 2019, from Mohammed Ben Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, to
Emmanuel Macron
, the French president, via Joe Biden, the American president.
But the international community seems to be preaching in the wilderness.
Lebanon remains paralyzed by its political class.
"
The response of the international community will not be up to the urgency until reforms are put in place,
" warns Antonio Guterres.
Our support must be greater than today, but Lebanon must first fulfill its end of the bargain.
"
The Secretary General of the United Nations says he sees in the legislative elections, which should be held next spring, "
an essential opportunity for the Lebanese people to make their voice heard
".
An electoral event which however arouses very little enthusiasm in the streets of the country, in the face of a
corrupt political class
determined to keep power.
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Lebanon
UN
Antonio guterres