Reform swiftly or face sanctions, Macron tells Lebanese leaders

Beirut

French President Emmanuel Macron has warned Lebanese politicians that they risk sanctions if they fail to set the nation on a new course within three months, stepping up pressure for reforms in a country collapsing under the weight of an economic crisis.

Visiting for the second time in less than a month, Macron marked Lebanon’s centenary by travelling to a forest outside Beirut to plant a cedar tree, the emblem of a nation facing the biggest threat to its stability since the 1975-1990 civil war.

In central Beirut, riot police and armoured personnel carriers fired teargas to disperse protesters outside parliament as they vented anger at the mismanagement and corruption that has dragged Lebanon into crisis. Some protesters hurled rocks. Riot police were also deployed outside the venue where Macron met Lebanese political and religious leaders.

One group held a banner reading: “Legitimacy comes from the people”. “It’s the last chance for this system,” Macron was quoted as saying. “I am putting the only thing I have on the table: my political capital.” Macron, who toured Beirut’s port that was devastated in an August 4 explosion, adding to the national crisis, said he wanted “credible commitments” and a follow-up mechanism from Lebanon’s leaders, including a legislative election in six to 12 months.

Should they fail to shift in the next three months, punitive measures could be imposed, including withholding bailout money and sanctions on the ruling class, the French president said. Pressure from Macron, who said he would visit again in December, has already pushed major parties to agree on a new prime minister, Mustapha Adib, who has called for the rapid formation of a government and promised to implement reforms swiftly to secure a deal with the International Monetary Fund.

Forming a cabinet has taken months in the past. But Macron said he would push politicians to move fast and said billions of dollars in funds pledged at a 2018 Paris donor conference in Paris would not be released without reforms.