France seeks new president for Lebanon with help from regional partners
France has entered the crisis line in the search for a new president for Lebanon, with an international meeting to be hosted next Monday.
France, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt will host a meeting on Lebanon on Monday in an attempt to encourage Lebanese politicians to find a way out of the crisis in their country, the French Foreign Ministry announced.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who is currently in Saudi Arabia, expressed her “deep concern over the political impasse in Lebanon”, according to ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Ligander.
France also discussed with Saudi Arabia and other regional partners ways to “encourage the Lebanese political class to assume its responsibilities and find a way out of the crisis”, it said.
Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun’s term ended on October 31st.
Since then, the Lebanese parliament has held 11 sessions to elect Aoun’s successor, all of which ended without achieving their intended goal.
Lebanon’s presidential vacuum comes at a time of severe economic crisis, which has led to a collapse in the local currency, a surge in commodity and energy prices, and a political crisis that has paralyzed caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati from forming his cabinet since May.
“The Lebanese crisis will be the subject of a follow-up meeting next Monday with representatives of France, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt, to continue coordination with our partners and find ways to move forward,” said the French spokesperson.
The aim of the meeting was to encourage the Lebanese political class to break the deadlock, she said.
Some Lebanese political forces have recently floated army chief General Joseph Aoun as a possible presidential candidate, a name that has enjoyed some consensus so far, but his election requires an amendment to the constitution.
Speaker Nabih Berri did not announce the date of the next session of parliament to elect a new president, in the absence of consensus among political forces.
