(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA))
BEIRUT, May 7 (KUNA) -- French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday that "Lebanese officials must decide whether they want to get out of the impasse that they have created or not."
Lebanese news agency (NNA) quoted the visiting minister after a meeting that Le Drian held with representatives of the local press at the conclusion of a visit he made to Beirut, in which he confirmed his country's support for Lebanon.
Le Drian said those after months of "stagnation and blockage, it seems that Lebanon needs a real renewal of its political and institutional practices," noting that "the Lebanese society in its richness and diversity is present for this" and that "in return for the disruption practiced by political forces, the vitality of the Lebanese civil society."
He considered that the maturity of the Lebanese parliamentary elections next year should constitute an opportunity for a democratic debate about the future of Lebanon, stressing the need for the country to emerge from the current political deadlock and the importance of "respecting democratic timelines in Lebanon because attempts to postpone the elections are something that the international community, and certainly France, will not accept."
Le Drian said, "I noticed that political parties have not yet assumed their responsibility and have not devoted themselves to working seriously in order to restore the country," adding, "I am here to avoid this kind of mass suicide."
The French minister added, "We refuse to remain idle in the face of the disruption that is taking place.
We have begun to take steps to prevent the entry of laid off political officials involved in corruption into French territory, and this is only the beginning," noted Le Drian.
He stressed that all that France is doing is "for the sake of the Lebanese so that they do not lose hope in the possibility of a just state and effective governance," adding, "I am here to avoid an organized political delay from some, and what drew me most in my meetings yesterday (Thursday) is the vitality of the Lebanese citizens and their ability to innovate and modernity."
The French Foreign Minister met yesterday with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and Prime Minister-designate Saad Al-Hariri, in addition to meeting with a number of representatives of political parties and movements. (end)
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