Abdel Samad: Lebanon Will Not Relinquish The West, Especially France

Minister of Information, Dr. Manal Abdel Samad, pointed out during an interview with “Voice of Lebanon” Radio Station this morning that “Lebanon will not dispense with the West, especially France, whose foreign minister has been delegated to emphasize the importance of reforms,” stressing the need for all state institutions to cooperate in the desired reform process.

Minister Abdel Samad defended the government’s work, stressing that “the decision in many of the files is not owned by the government, but rather is linked to internal and external political factors”, underscoring the need not to politicize decisions that serve all Lebanese so that politics does not prevail over the national interest.

The Minister indicated that “there are many obstacles facing the government on a daily basis in all financial and economic dossiers by some political parties that reject reform,” noting that the recent appointments took into account some political considerations and were not the best.

She added: “People will not see anything positive in the work of the government if it does not achieve reforms in large files, such as electricity and public waste.”

In this context, Abdel Samad warned that “Lebanon can no longer tolerate any new threats,” calling for “stopping the political maliciousness and some attempts to thwart the government’s work for narrow personal interests.”

Commenting on the financial plan, she announced that “manipulating depositors’ money is a red line for the government,” stressing that the Central Bank Governor cannot be held solely responsible for the bankruptcy that we have reached, but rather the state, the central bank and the banks participate in bearing the losses.

In response to a question about the parliamentary elections, the Minister stressed “the importance that people cast their votes and not boycot the elections,” calling for an electronic voting platform to prevent any fraud.

Referring to the media file, Abdel Samad pointed out “the need to create a digital platform to meet the development of the media and technology sector.”

NNA