In a press conference he held last weekend, French President Emmanuel Macron gave Lebanese politicians a final chance to form a government and a warning of another approach that will be used should they fail.
According to a French official that spoke to Al-Hadath, Macron is considering “freezing the accounts of Lebanese [political] figures in French banks if his efforts for a solution fail.”
During his recent press conference, the French President ruled out immediate sanctions on Lebanon’s political elite, whom he said had betrayed their obligations and committed “collective treason” by failing to form a government.
This came one day after the resignation of former Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib, who stepped down on Saturday after a month of failed negotiations to form a new government.
Now, Lebanon will have to designate a new prime minister to resume these negotiations, which have been mainly blocked by the Shiite Duo’s demand to designate the person who will head the Ministry of Finance.
Meanwhile, the country’s compounding crises continue to weigh it down as the Lebanese pound continues to decline against the US dollar and the Lebanese people continue to suffer the consequences of a failed ruling class.
The only hope for rescuing Lebanon lies in the formation of a competent government of specialists with the primary aim of implementing the reforms needed to earn international support.
Without that support, the economy will only continue to crumble and eat away Lebanon’s endangered middle class while pushing the poor deeper into poverty.
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