The President of the Lebanese Republic, Michel Aoun, today received Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, in a surprise visit that was not announced in advance, and came after Hariri's return from the French capital, Paris.
After his meeting with Aoun, Hariri said, "I consulted with the President of the Republic and will complete the consultation, and do not progress in forming the government, but I explained to him the golden opportunity that we are in, and every team bears responsibility for its positions since today."
He pointed out that during his visit to France, he sensed enthusiasm for forming a government, stressing that his position in this regard is "consistent and clear." I have".
Hariri had dinner this week with French President Emmanuel Macron, whose efforts have so far failed to get Lebanese leaders to cooperate to address the unprecedented financial crisis in Lebanon.
The most prominent of what was stated in Prime Minister Saad Hariri's statement after his visit to the Republican Palace pic.twitter.com/GSVh2HCurG
- Saad Hariri (@saadhariri) February 12, 2021
Chair position
In turn, the Lebanese Presidency stated - in a statement published on its Twitter account - that President Aoun had received the Prime Minister-designate at his request, and consulted with him on the issue of forming a government after the latter's trips abroad.
She stated that the President-designate did not bring anything new at the governmental level, without further details.
Information Office in the Presidency: President Aoun received Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri at his request and consulted with him on the issue of forming the upcoming government after Prime Minister Hariri's trips abroad, as it became clear that the Prime Minister-designate did not bring anything new at the governmental level
- Lebanese Presidency (@LBpresidency) February 12, 2021
And recently, Lebanese media reports were published calling for Aoun to make concessions to form the stalled government since the resignation of Hassan Diab's government, 6 days after a catastrophic explosion in the Beirut port, on the fourth of August.
On October 22, the Lebanese President assigned former Prime Minister Saad Hariri to form a government, following the apology of his predecessor, Mustafa Adeeb, for the failure of his mission to form a government to succeed Diab's government.
Two months later, Hariri announced that he had presented Aoun with a cabinet consisting of 18 ministers from non-partisan specialists, but the latter announced his objection to what he called at the time the "uniqueness" of Hariri by naming ministers, especially Christians, without agreeing with the presidency.
For more than a year, Lebanon has been suffering from the worst economic crisis since the end of the civil war (1975-1990), and severe political polarization, in a scene in which the interests of regional and Western countries also clash.