Lebanese President, H E General Michel Aoun, valued the permanent support of the State of Qatar to Lebanon in the difficult stages it went through, indicating that this relationship has been strengthened at the level of leaders and brotherly peoples over time.
In an exclusive interview withe Qatar News Agency (QNA), His Excellency noted that the relationship between Lebanon and Qatar is not a product of this time, but rather old and reflects the brotherly ties that unite the two countries and peoples, stressing the keenness of the two sides to continue strengthening it.
President Aoun drew attention to the seriousness of the Arab-Arab differences and their negative effects on all Arab countries and peoples, expressing at the same time Lebanon’s commitment to a position of solidarity and unity among Arab countries. He stressed Lebanon’s keenness to establish good relations with Arab countries in general and the Gulf countries in particular.
H E stressed that Lebanon depends on the Arab countries as a path for its products to the world, especially with the presence of the Israeli enemy on its southern borders, in addition to the nature of interaction between the Lebanese and other Arabs.
H E Aoun, expressed his aspirations that the next parliament would elect a new president for the country who would complete the road map he had set to end the difficult situation the Lebanese live in, in addition to passing legislation based on Lebanon’s position on the path of financial and economic recovery and holding all those who committed crimes accountable.
In regard to response to the unified defense strategy and presence of arms in the hands of the Lebanese parties, H E General Michel Aoun said that addressing an issue of this magnitude requires a comprehensive consensus by all parties because the reflection of the issue affects everyone without exception, and the issue of the defense strategy cannot be adopted and applied by one party.
Aoun indicated that he had previously presented to the Lebanese parties his objective vision to reach a suitable ground for discussion on the issue of weapons and how to confront Israeli threats and ambitions, especially in light of the Israeli superiority in the balance of power in terms of weapons.
In this context, His Excellency made it clear that there are currently developments that have imposed themselves in the world and the region, and they cannot be ignored when talking about a defense strategy, so he called for a comprehensive national meeting to discuss this matter, but after discussing the most vital and dangerous issue of the economic and financial situation, while some responded to this invitation, others decided to deafen their ears.
Regarding the economic and financial crisis the country going through, H E said, it is not hidden that Lebanon is experiencing serious financial and economic crisis, stressing his conviction that the agreement with the IMF is the beginning of the march towards recovery and exit from this crisis.
H E believed that the long-term accumulations brought Lebanon to the current situation, in addition to relying on the rentier economy rather than the product, and the failure to put in place sufficient laws to activate oversight and reduce waste and corruption.
He added that resolving the crisis requires a comprehensive reform program and achieving economic and financial stability by establishing effective policies and reforms to revive the economy, rebuild confidence and broad support from all parties, and an explicit acknowledgment of the losses in the financial system and agreement on ways to address them.
The goal of reaching an agreement with the IMF he said; is not only to obtain the amount of three billion dollars, or any other amount, but to lay down a valid road map for a valid economic and financial future vision that secures stability on these two levels and allows the Lebanese to recover and be assured of a promising future.
He added that the Lebanese government has developed a plan called the “economic recovery plan”, in which everything must be done in order to overcome the current situation, through measures that may be harsh, but necessary, not forgetting that the problem is the result of accumulations that are decades old.
H E pointed out that it was not easy to maintain security stability in Lebanon in a region that was raging with conflicts and in light of the fierce war that Syria has witnessed since 2011.
H E explained that despite the great differences of opinion among the Lebanese, they all agreed that the security factor is the main common denominator for the survival of the country and the preservation of its identity.
“Therefore, we worked to strengthen this cohesion among the Lebanese first, and facilitated the bypass around the Lebanese army and security services, which played their full role, and deserved the trust of Arab and Western countries alike. Logistical support was provided to them from all countries of the world, after everyone made sure that Lebanon is strongly involved in the process of combating terrorism and bringing down all the schemes of the terrorists who did not succeed in imposing their vision and ideas.” H E Aoun reiterated his position on the necessity of returning the displaced Syrians to their homes in light of Lebanon’s inability to bear the economic consequences of this displacement.
From the first day of the war in Syria, “I said that it is necessary to receive displaced persons who are injured or who really need to flee from Syria in order to preserve their lives, but my calls did not receive the required response, as the influx of hundreds of thousands of displaced Syrians to Lebanon reach the largest number of population density per square kilometer, to the limits of 600 people”.
General Aoun pointed out that this number of displaced people imposed catastrophic repercussions on Lebanon at all levels: livelihood, security and economics, so the crime rate increased, and Lebanon incurred huge sums of money to secure the needs of the displaced, unemployment and the economic crisis increased in light of the competition of the displaced to the Lebanese.
Aoun warned against the Israelis’ ambitions for the Lebanese wealth of oil, gas and water, ruling out at the same time Israel launching an aggression against Lebanon, expressing his belief that the enemy will not seek such an adventure now because the price will be very high, and Lebanon will stand united in the face of the aggressor with all its components and resistance.
President Aoun added that Israel knows that it will lose a great deal if it attacks Lebanon, knowing that Lebanon is committed to international resolutions, especially Resolution 1701, while Israel intends to violate this resolution on every occasion.
On the possibility of reaching a framework agreement with Israel on the demarcation of the maritime borders after the progress of US mediation in this file, General Aoun said that in the concept of negotiations, a solution must be reached that satisfies both parties, otherwise things are doomed to failure.
The President said thanks to the American mediation, the negotiations remain in place in an indirect way, even though they have practically stopped due to the time required to study options and proposals, but this does not mean that the negotiations have ended and that the file has been closed, pointing out that any preliminary or final agreement cannot be approved by Lebanon unless it is issued by the relevant authorities, i.e. the President of the Republic, the Council of Ministers and the House of Representatives.
H E President Aoun, revealed that during his presidential term, the Supreme Defense Council held several meetings in which it dealt with security issues and activating coordination processes between the various Lebanese security services, and between them and the rest of the countries of the world to ensure security stability, despite all the harsh conditions experienced by the region and the world.
The Lebanese security and military forces have drawn up a tight plan to ensure the security of the parliamentary elections that will be held today, and in order not to cause major problems that may lead to the postponement or failure of the voting operations.
Regarding his efforts implementing reforms in his country, General Michel Aoun said Unfortunately, I faced many obstacles from some beneficiaries to keep the situation as it is in Lebanon, far from any accountability or reform, and what had to be accomplished very quickly, it took years to do, similar to the issue of the forensic auditing that was approved with a moratorium implementation, before I work again to move the wheel, and it does not target an institution in itself, but rather proceeds from the Banque du Liban to include all public institutions and administrations, because the fact that funds have been smuggled outside Lebanon, and it must be known who did this and who facilitated and participated in this conspiracy against the people.
During the remainder of my presidential term, he said, I will work to achieve what I called for, and in the event that time is not available for that, I will at least have left a road map that my successors can emulate to move Lebanon from one situation to another.
H E President Aoun said the Lebanese do not know despair, and therefore they have their own decision, and they will work to overcome the current crisis, but the appropriate atmosphere must be provided for that, and this is what we are trying to do, explaining that the parliamentary elections for the Lebanese that took place last Friday and Sunday showed two important things: the first is the fall of the false allegations and accusations that were brought against us to work to disrupt or obstruct the holding of the parliamentary elections, noting that he have personally been keen, since assuming presidential duties, to overcome all difficulties in front of the electoral elections, and he was the most insistent on respecting their constitutional dates.
Regarding his expectations from the upcoming parliament, Aoun said my expectations from the new parliament are based on the hopes of the Lebanese that the new parliamentarians will do their full work in terms of monitoring the work of the government, and implement the necessary legislation to ensure that Lebanon is placed on the path of financial and economic recovery, and to elect a new President of the Republic who completes the road map that we put it in place to end the difficult situation.
The Council has the responsibility to keep pace with Lebanons transition to another stage by approving a lot of legislation that helps lay the foundations for a productive and lasting economy, and a financial strategy that preserves the rights and money of the Lebanese, and most importantly hold accountable all those who committed financial crimes.
H E Aoun explained that Lebanon’s position on the Russian-Ukrainian crisis stems from the necessity of adopting the language of dialogue to solve problems between countries and peoples and therefore, the principles of the International Bill of Human Rights and the principles of the United Nations are based on dialogue and not on violence and the sounds of guns.
His Excellency stressed that Lebanon has friendly relations with both Russia and Ukraine, and that is why it pains him to watch the outbreak of war between them, adding that he communicated this position to both countries, and they expressed understanding for his point of view.
He stressed that Lebanon supports everything that would stop the ongoing war immediately, given the human and material losses it incur.
