BEIRUT, Jan. 11, 2022 (Xinhua) The head of the Lebanese Christian Marada Movement, former minister Suleiman Franjieh, announced today (Tuesday) his apology for not participating in the “national dialogue” called for by Lebanese President Michel Aoun.
Franjieh’s announcement came in statements to reporters following his meeting with President Aoun within the framework of presidential consultations prior to the dialogue sessions.
Franjieh said that there is no personal dispute between him and Aoun, but rather there is an agreement between them on strategic issues.
Franjieh denied that he was preparing to run for the upcoming presidential elections to succeed President Aoun, whose term ends on October 31.
And the former Lebanese Prime Minister and Sunni (Future Movement) leader Saad Hariri had previously apologized last Friday for not participating in the dialogue, saying that “any dialogue should take place following the parliamentary elections” scheduled for next May.
On December 27, in a televised speech, Aoun called on the Lebanese political parties to an “urgent national dialogue” with the aim of understanding the approval of expanded administrative and financial decentralization, a defense strategy to protect Lebanon, and a plan for financial and economic recovery.
As part of the preparations for the dialogue, Aoun met today in two separate meetings with the head of the (Hezbollah) parliamentary bloc, Muhammad Raad, and with the head of the (Damana al-Jabal) bloc, MP Talal Arslan.
In statements following the meeting with Aoun, both Raad and Arslan expressed their support for the call for the dialogue conference and their readiness to participate in it.
Lebanon is facing political division and a financial, monetary and economic crisis that the World Bank considers to be “the most severe and severe in the world” and ranks it among the three most difficult crises recorded in history since the mid-19th century.
The crisis led to the deterioration of living conditions, the collapse of the Lebanese pound, the erosion of incomes and the decline in purchasing power, with the increase in unemployment and the prices of various life materials, and the poverty rate exceeding 82%, with the lifting of official subsidies on basic materials, especially fuel, wheat and medicine.