Mikati said: “A workshop must be launched to address the crisis in Lebanon,” adding: “There is no choice but to contribute to confronting the crisis.”
The Prime Minister confirmed his signature of the parliamentary elections decree, stressing that he will seek to hold the elections on time.
Mikati added: “The constitution was created to prevent disruption. I am the first to seek to resume government sessions.”
He stressed the need to “ratify the budget and prepare for the elections,” and that “there is no solution except by adhering to the independence of the judiciary and international legitimacy.”
He continued, “If my resignation leads to a solution, I will not fail in it.”
With regard to foreign affairs, Mikati stressed the need to maintain relations with Arab and Gulf countries, calling for “internal understanding through dialogue on foreign policy.”
He concluded his speech by saying: “We must return to the policy of disassociation in Lebanon.”
Aoun’s statements
On Friday, Lebanese President Michel Aoun said that Lebanon may need 6 or 7 years to be able to get out of the current crisis, while the political division in the country hinders the ability to implement necessary reforms required by the international community in order to provide support.
Michel Aoun’s estimates regarding recovery from the crisis are not optimistic, while Lebanon has witnessed, since the summer of 2019, an accelerating economic collapse, exacerbated by the horrific explosion of the Port of Beirut on August 4, 2020, and measures to confront the Corona virus.
In March 2020, the state failed to pay its foreign debts, and then began negotiations with the International Monetary Fund on a recovery plan that was later suspended, due to differences between the Lebanese negotiators.
The exchange rate of the Lebanese pound against the dollar gradually declined until the currency lost more than 85 percent of its value.
About 80 percent of the population is living below the poverty line, and the unemployment rate has risen, while the international community requires the authorities to implement urgent reforms, so that the country receives the necessary financial support to get it out of the spiral of collapse.
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