
No results matched your search
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's top Christian cleric said on Sunday a new government must deliver urgent economic and other reforms in the national interest, rather than returning to past corrupt ways that have plunged the Middle Eastern nation into an economic crisis.
Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, leader of the Maronite church, has an influential role as religious leader of the biggest Christian community in Lebanon, where political power is divided between its main Christian, Muslim and Druze sects.
Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib, a Sunni Muslim, is in talks to swiftly form a cabinet by mid September, under pressure from French President Emmanuel Macron. Picking ministers in the past has taken months of haggling.
Macron has led international efforts to fix the country of about six million people that has been crushed by debt and which is reeling from a huge Aug. 4 port blast that shattered Beirut, exacerbating Lebanon's deepest crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war.
The patriarch called for an emergency government that was "small, qualified and strong" in his Sunday sermon, saying the new cabinet should not return to past ways of "clientelism, corruption and bias".
"Fateful times require a government in which there is no monopoly of portfolios, no sharing out of benefits, no dominance by one group, and no landmines that disrupt its work and decisions," he said, adding it must "negotiate responsibly" with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
His comments were carried by an-Nahar newspaper website and other Lebanese media.
Talks with the IMF were started this year by the outgoing government, but quickly stalled amid a row between ministers, politicians and banks about the scale of losses in the banking system that has been brought to its knees, sending the currency into tailspin and driving many people into poverty.
By Robin Emmott and Sabine Siebold BRUSSELS (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered the United States full support to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia on...
By Andrew Osborn and Alexander Marrow MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Tuesday called the United States an adversary and told U.S. warships to stay well away from Crimea "for their...
BERLIN (Reuters) - The United States will ramp up its forces in Germany amid the latest tensions with Russia over Ukraine, abandoning former President Donald Trump's plans to...
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
I feel that this comment is:
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.