PEJOURNAL – The principle that emerged during the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Beirut yesterday after the deadly explosion of the city’s pier: “The return of the perpetrator to the crime scene is the accepted principle in all criminal cases.”
It seems that Macron still thinks that Lebanon is a French colony. After months of street protests by the French people, he did not give a convincing response to the unjust and corrupt policies of his government to the people of his country. Now he has come to Beirut to provide international aid to Lebanon in the face of the distressed people of this city subjected to political reform.
By setting a deadline for Lebanese politicians until September 1st, the French president has brazenly claimed that he will personally take political responsibility for the implementation of the reforms if they do not take place!
What exactly does Macron mean by this stance? Does the French president who, is unpopular with his own people, heavy economic pressure caused by his government’s incompetence, turned protests into an accepted norm across France for months, think he can roll up his sleeves and play the role of a powerful and wealthy politician?
Macron, Hariri and CEDRE conference
To answer this question, we have to go back a little, in April 2018, when the Lebanese were preparing for parliamentary elections after a four-year hiatus.
At the time, Lebanon was struggling with economic problems, and its government was on the verge of bankruptcy with $ 100 billion in debt. The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Saad Hariri, was holding an international conference called “CEDRE” hosted by France to seek international help to overcome the crisis.
Hariri told Lebanese voters at the conference that your vote in the upcoming elections would be directly involved in cashing in on the international financial pledge made at the conference, including $ 11.8 billion in aid and partial debt relief.
Accordingly, France pledged to provide € 150 million in aid to Lebanon in addition to a € 400 million loan, and the contributions of other countries and international financial institutions were as follows:
●The World Bank is committed to pay $ 4 billion in loans over 5 years
● The European Investment Bank is committed to pay € 800 million over 5 years
● Kuwaiti government pledges $ 180 million loan
● Qatar pledges $ 500 million loan
● Islamic Development Bank commits to repay $ 750 million loan over 5 years
● Britain pledges 60 million Pound loan
● The Netherlands committed to paying € 200 million over 4 years in addition to € 100 million in conditional assistance!
● Germany is committed to a € 60 million loan
● Italy is committed to paying a € 120 million loan
● Turkey to pay $ 200 million loan
● United States pledges $ 115 million in grants.
● The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is committed to paying € 1.1 billion in loans over six years.
● The European Union is committed to pay 150 million Euros in financial aid,
which of course can be increased to 1.5 billion Euros if the feasibility of the projects and the consent of the parties to these facilities …
A long list of promises, the fulfillment of which depended on the choice of the Lebanese people. These promises, along with the implementation of a corrupt vote-buying scheme during the election, which cost millions of Saudi oil dollars, were a complex process designed to pressure the Lebanese people and lead them to the West’s political path.
Despite all these promises to buy votes, however; The Lebanese people made their choice, and the result of this election led to the decisive victory of the political groups along the axis of resistance, and after the announcement of the election results, the groups along with the Western, Hebrew and Arab axis publicly announced that the people would pay the price.
After the formation of the new parliament and government, not only did these financial promises remain on paper, but comprehensive banking sanctions began under the pretext of blocking Hezbollah’s financial access and, of course, with the aim of putting maximum pressure on Lebanon’s fragile economy and destroying its livelihood.
In addition to escalating pressure, the failed election process this time turned upside down, accusing the government of inefficiency and corruption by exploiting popular protests over the corruption of politicians who plunged the country’s economy into ruins over a 30-year period. At the instigation of the people, they started a street riot and blocked the streets of Beirut and the main roads of this country for several weeks.
The reality of the people’s protest, however, was the corruption of the politicians who ruled Lebanon after the civil war, but the same corrupt currents that were now cut off from the corrupt politics of politics after the new government took office tried to hold the incumbent responsible. And lead the protests towards the resignation of the government and the holding of early elections.
Saad Hariri ostensibly resigned out of sympathy for the people, but in practice resigned as prime minister to escape accountability to pave the way for the completion of the next puzzle, the dissolution of parliament. A dream that did not come true with the intelligence of the parliament and the new prime minister was quickly elected.
Now, with the explosion of the port of Beirut, time has returned to zero and Macron has reappeared in the role of savior. Pompeo called Saad Hariri and promised to help. The Zionist regime raised the Lebanese flag in Tel Aviv to express its sympathy. Has reminded itself of the reconstruction of Lebanon after the civil war!
And … Lebanon, a country that lost half of its capital as a result of this explosion and has suffered tens of deaths and several thousand injuries, is today facing a difficult and crucial situation.
Macron has now set the condition for international aid as political reform, saying he will not allow corrupt people to get it. Reforms aimed at removing Hezbollah from the Lebanese political chess scene and disarming the resistance.
Rumors are rife to form an international investigation team to investigate the cause of the Beirut bombing, a similar investigation team formed 15 years ago after the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, whose trial is set to begin today, two of whose defendants are still alive. And its documents are based on the testimony of false witnesses and wiretapping of the accused. The telephone network in which the installation of the Zionist regime’s spy equipment has been proven, and its manager fled to Israel after this revelation!
Now what is the next puzzle of this scenario? A question that, although the answer is clear, but the developments of the coming weeks will reveal its dimensions.
Tonight, Seyed Hassan Nasrallah will take a stand that will definitely be a historic speech that can pave the way for answering many unanswered questions and outline the strategy of resistance to the conditions facing Lebanon.