France supports Hariri’s proposal to end Lebanon Cabinet standoff

Sep 23, 2020

France has signaled its support for a proposal from former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri that seeks to end the gridlock keeping Lebanon’s sectarian leaders from forming a new government. 

The small Mediterranean country has struggled to assemble a Cabinet, in part because the two main Shiite parties, Hezbollah and the Amal bloc, insist on selecting the position of finance minister. 

As a compromise, Hariri, the country’s leading Sunni politician, suggested an “independent” Shiite candidate be appointed finance minister under Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system. It remains to be seen whether Hezbollah and the Amal bloc support Hariri’s plan. In a possible sign, pro-Hezbollah Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar described the proposal as “not in the interest of the country.”  

The French Foreign Ministry, however, said it welcomed Hariri’s proposal, “which demonstrates his sense of responsibility and of Lebanon’s national interest.”  

“This statement represents an opening-up whose importance everyone must appreciate so that a mission government can now be established,” the ministry said, adding that France “calls on all Lebanese political leaders to honor the commitments they themselves made to the French president.”