"If we let go of Lebanon in the region, if in some way we leave it in the hands of the turpitudes of the regional powers, it will be civil war" and "the defeat of what is the very identity of Lebanon", warned on Friday French President Emmanuel Macron. He must return next week to Beirut to try to unblock the political impasse which prevents the formation of a government capable of recovering the country, in crisis and victim of a devastating explosion in early August at the port of Beirut.
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"Follow a line of requirement without interference"
Before the Presidential Press Association in Paris, the French president spoke of the "constraints of a denominational system" which, "added - to speak modestly - to related interests", led "to a situation where there is no has almost more (political) renewal and where there is almost an impossibility to carry out reforms ".
Following a line of "demand without interference", he cited the reforms to be carried out: "pass the anti-corruption law, reform public contracts, reform the energy sector" and the banking system. "If we do not do this, the Lebanese economy will collapse" and "the only victim will be the Lebanese people (...) who cannot go into exile", he warned.
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However Lebanon "is perhaps one of the last existing forms of what we believe in this region: that is to say the most peaceful possible coexistence of religions (...), of a model pluralist which is based on education, culture, the capacity to trade in peace ", argued the French president.
Emmanuel Macron expected Tuesday in Beirut
Emmanuel Macron had already made a lightning visit two days after the explosion at the port of Beirut of a huge amount of ammonium nitrate, which left around 180 dead in early August. The head of state will return Tuesday morning to the devastated neighborhoods, where he will take stock of the clearing operations and the distribution of aid. But Emmanuel Macron is especially expected on his ability to unblock the inextricable political crisis, nearly three weeks after the resignation of the government of Hassan Diab.