France calls on Lebanese Government “to move quickly”

Last updated on February 17th, 2020 at 12:20 pm

France renewed its request on Wednesday for the new Lebanese government to move quickly to meet the people’s aspirations as soon as it gained the trust in Parliament. A French Foreign Ministry spokesman announced that “it is currently the responsibility of this government to move quickly to meet the economic, social and political aspirations that Lebanese have expressed for several months”.

According to AFP, on Tuesday the Lebanese Parliament trusted the new government despite protests from demonstrators who tried to block parliament’s access to MPs with clashes broking out between them and the security forces. Since October 17, Lebanon has witnessed unprecedented demonstrations against the political class, which the Lebanese accuse of not managing the subsequent political and economic crises.

The new Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, confirmed that his government had adopted the demands of the revolutionary uprising causing an earthquake in the country and pledged to “complete an emergency plan by the end of February”.

Following the request for the formation of a technocratic government which brings together ministers completely independent from the political class, the new Government team was formed after long talks between the parties with the majority of seats in Parliament, in particular pro-Iranian Hezbollah and the free patriotic movement founded by President Michel Aoun. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has indicated that the international community “awaits profound and bold reforms by the Lebanese authorities, in particular as regards economic transparency, financial resilience, the fight against corruption and the independence of the judiciary”. Read more News From Europe click us.