Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun warned on Thursday of an “atmosphere of civil war” during recent unrest and what he described as attempts to stir up sectarian tensions amid an unprecedented financial crisis, Reuters reported.
The president was speaking at a “national gathering” that he called for “to protect civil peace”, but which was boycotted by opponents including former Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri and other ex-premiers who described it as “a waste of time.”
“We touched the atmosphere of civil war in a worrying way. Movements replete with sectarian tensions were launched in a suspicious manner,” Aoun said, as quoted by Reuters.
Other opposition figures refused to attend the meeting, including former Minister Sleiman Franjieh, the head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, the president of the Kataeb party, MP Sami Gemayel and others.
Meanwhile, opposition political sources rued out that the “national gathering” would have effects that would change the country’s political scene.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, the sources noted that the problem lied in the fact that Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government has failed, until now, to meet its promises, which is negatively reflecting on the internal situation.
The sources added that Paris expressed discontent over the performance of Diab’s government, which has “failed to employ the French embrace to make a qualitative leap that would put it on the path of recovery.”
They also stressed that the influential European parties were not satisfied with the role assumed by the president of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gibran Bassil, who is the target of criticism on all levels, even by a number of European ambassadors accredited to Lebanon.
“These ambassadors see Bassil’s performance as an obstacle that delays translating the government’s pledges into concrete steps,” according to the sources.
They revealed that Paris has decided a while ago to freeze its contacts with the Lebanese government and almost lost hope in Lebanon’s ability to implement the reforms approved in the CEDRE conference, which would affect the course of negotiations between the country and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“Paris is disappointed because Lebanon did not respond to the reform and administrative conditions that it undertook before the CEDRE participants,” the sources emphasized.
