President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, on Thursday met the Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League of Arab States, Ambassador Houssam Zaki, today at the Presidential Palace.
The President told Ambassador Zaki that “Lebanon looks forward to a unified Arab position toward the economic and social difficulties it suffers from, after the series of events which have occurred during past years. Especially, including the influx of displaced Syrians to Lebanon, whose numbers exceed one and half million by now”.
“Direct and indirect material losses, especially economic losses which Lebanon incurred as a result, since 2011 until last year, exceeded 54 billion US Dollars, according to IMF reports” the President added.
President Aoun also stressed the responsibility of Arab countries to help Lebanon overcome difficult circumstances it is going through, “Because Lebanon has endured a lot for the sake of Arab causes, foremost of which is the Palestinian cause”.
In addition, the President reiterated that the upcoming Government will undertake necessary reforms in conjunction with forensic financial audit in Central Bank accounts and all public institutions and administrations, in a fundamental step to combat corruption and prevent the recurrence of mistakes which have taken place in the country for years ago. “The formation of the new Government faces some difficulties which can be overcome one criteria is adopted in formation for the Government to meet the major challenged which await it as a result of the country’s situation, and to secure cooperation between both executive and legislative authorities” President Aoun stated.
For his part, Ambassador Zaki conveyed the greetings of the Secretary General of the League of Arab States, Mr. Ahmed Aboul Geith, to President Aoun, and his readiness for any role which the League could play to help Lebanon overcome current harsh conditions.
The meeting was attended by Head of the Arab Center for Legal and Judicial Research, Ambassador Abdel-Rahman Al-Solh, and the center’s Vice-President, Dr. Youssef Al-Sabawi.
General Director of the Lebanese Presidency, Dr. Antoine Choucair, Advisers Mr. Rafic Chelala and Osama Khachab, attended on the Lebanese side.
After the meeting, Ambassador Zaki told reporters: “Today, I was honored to meet the President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun. I am here upon a mandate from the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States to get acquainted with Lebanese leaders and Presidents about the political situation in the country and the issue of forming the government and the difficulties that Lebanon faces in this regard.”
Zaki added that the crisis in Lebanon is complex, hoping that contacts help the Lebanese cope with the economic and political deadlock.
“The goal was to get acquainted with the situation and listen to an assessment of the situation as a whole, and God willing, we can help so that Lebanon emerge from this crisis.”
Source: NNA