Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri yesterday gave his government partners 72 hours to support "reforms" in Lebanon, accusing some of obstructing his work, coinciding with a wave of demonstrations in the country against the political class and economic deterioration, where Foreign Minister Gebran Bassel Yarub He understood what was happening on the street, warning of chaos and strife.
In detail, Hariri said in a speech on television: "I personally gave myself a very short time. Either our partners in the settlement and the government give us a clear, decisive and final answer to convince me, the Lebanese and the international community, that there is a decision for everyone to reform and stop the waste and corruption, or I have other words. .
Hariri added: «Go back and say a very short deadline .. 72 hours».
In his speech, Hariri accused unnamed parties in the government of stalling his efforts to push through serious economic reforms, which they had already agreed to and allow Lebanon to receive $ 11.6 billion in loans and grants approved by the international community at the Cedar conference in Paris.
He said: "The situation exploded in the street yesterday, and I have been trying for three years to address and offer real solutions," adding: "For months, we have been waiting for our partners in the country and the government to walk in the solution that we agreed to .. But there is no delay procrastination did not do it," Since the formation of the government, which took months.
Hariri said that Lebanon is experiencing a difficult situation that has no precedent in its history.
In his speech, Hariri stressed that the reforms do not mean imposing taxes, expressing his complaint about the obstacles to reform and government work. He continued: «We have reduced expenses, and sought to increase income, but we have always clashed with a handicapped», adding: «I feel the pain of the Lebanese, and support their right to express».
"Anger is a natural reaction to the political performance in Lebanon and the disruption of the state," Hariri said.
In his speech, Hariri warned that his political opponents want to make him a "scapegoat" because the government has not yet been able to carry out any possible reforms. "I have been trying for four years to find solutions, but political targeting has not stopped."
The Lebanese foreign minister, head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gibran Bassil, anticipated Hariri's statement by rejecting the resignation of the government, saying that this could lead to a situation "much worse than the present." It believed that the solution started with a map of reforms, which it had already proposed.
After meeting President Michel Aoun, the Lebanese Foreign Minister expressed his understanding of what is happening in the Lebanese street, pointing out that this is the result of the accumulation of failures, calling for the implementation of Baabda paper reforms and warning of chaos and sedition.
Bassil said: "There is a basket of reforms demanded by President Aoun in the meeting in Baabda, which needs to be implemented, and we in the bloc put an economic paper includes all points under the title that Lebanon is rich but looted," demanding «implement these reforms, and there is the possibility to do everything in days "They are numbered, and work is required even if people on the street to finish work under the pressure of the street."
He warned that what is happening "can bring Lebanon into chaos and strife, and we are either facing a major collapse or a bold rescue, which is between those who want to burn green and dry, and those who want to extinguish the fires and prevent the outbreak."
He believed that the people's uprising is not “directed against us, but in our favor and in favor of people's demands.
He called for giving the government "an opportunity to finish the work, and if the government can not be left, because the alternative to the current government is foggy, and much worse than the current situation."
He said: «We do not accept the imposition of any new taxes, even small on the public, before we impose large taxes on the rich, and our saying that the pockets of large before the small».
Thousands of Lebanese are demonstrating in a unified move to raise their voice against the government and new taxation decisions.
The demonstrations, unprecedented for years, erupted on Thursday night after the government approved a tax, which it later withdrew, on communications via Internet applications in a series of new taxes that are being considered for succession. The demands of the street for the resignation of the government were raised in an unprecedented movement that did not exclude a party, sect or leader.
Tens of thousands of protesters across Lebanon blocked roads and torched tires on the second day of protests.
The demonstrations shed light on the political division, the divergence of views between the components of the government on the mechanism of allocating quotas and administrative appointments and how to reduce the deficit and reform on the one hand, and the file of the relationship with neighboring Syria on the other.
The Lebanese Forces, the Lebanese Phalange and the Progressive Socialist Party called on their supporters to join the demonstrators protesting against the poor economic conditions and taxation.
"I go to the supporters and supporters of the Lebanese Forces Party to participate in the ongoing popular movements, according to the logic and atmosphere of these movements, that is, without slogans and party flags," Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said in a statement. The head of the opposition Phalange Party, MP Sami Gemayel, called on all Lebanese, including Phalangists and Phalangist friends, to continue the movement they have begun. Our capital until the goal is achieved. ”
For his part, Zafer Nasser, Secretary of the Progressive Socialist Party, led by Walid Jumblatt, in a statement, announced the organization of movements in various regions of Lebanon, "as a result of the failure of the Covenant to achieve the promised reforms." A cabinet meeting, scheduled for yesterday afternoon, was canceled at the Presidential Palace in Baabda. Earlier, Lebanese Interior Minister Raya al-Hassan announced her rejection of "acts of sabotage and endangering the security of citizens, forcing her to take appropriate measures to prevent such acts."
The minister stressed that «the resignation of the government will not be the solution, but can take the country for the worse, and citizens should know this well», pointing out that «this government - with all its impurities - offers solutions and options are few in light of the financial situation we have reached The economy is accurate, because it is imperative to approve austerity budget ».
Schools and universities were closed yesterday, in compliance with the decision of the Minister of Education because of the new situation, and banks were closed.