Prime Minister Hassan Diab criticized on Tuesday some Lebanese parties of working on blocking aid to Lebanon.
"You do know that contacts … with our friends around the world, are witnessing positive and encouraging progress towards helping Lebanon. However, there are people who still insist on increasing the suffering of the Lebanese," said Diab during a cabinet session.
"Is it acceptable that there is a party official whose sole concern is to block any help?" he asked.
The PM described as “shameful” statements that his government heard from certain Arab states about contacts that some Lebanese politicians had held with them.
"We have reports about a scheme to obstruct the government from inside the state administration," Diab added.
At the start of the cabinet session, President Michel Aoun highlighted the obligation to speed up the implementation of decisions aimed at improving social and economic conditions.
Aoun said it is urgent that Lebanon completes reforms as requested by the international community in order to redress the country’s ailing economy and finances.
He also said that the rise in coronavirus cases necessitated a review of the related measures and the acceleration of their implementation.
Aoun and Diab’s positions came a day after the International Monetary Fund warned of the high cost of holding up reforms in Lebanon, two months into bailout talks to redress its nose-diving economy.
Reading out the cabinet's decisions, Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad indicated that the cabinet had agreed to adopt a wait-and-see approach to the resignation of Alain Bifani, the Director General of the Ministry of Finance.
