President of the National Dialogue Party, MP Fouad Makhzoumi, accompanied by former Ambassador Dr. Bassam Naamani, Samer Al-Safah, Director General of the Makhzoumi Foundation, Kamel Dimyati, Vice President of the National Dialogue Party for Finance and Administration, and Marketing Director Marwan Sabban, visited the Grand Mufti of the Republic, His Eminence Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, at Dar Al-Fatwa. They discussed matters concerning Dar Al-Fatwa and the general situation in the country.

Makhzoumi stated: “A country in collapse, hungry children, patients unable to find medicine, astronomical fuel prices, the dollar reaching 25,000 Lebanese pounds, and a loaf of bread costing 10,000 Lebanese pounds. On top of all this, we are facing the biggest diplomatic crisis with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, foremost among them the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has gone on an extended holiday in London before heading to Glasgow to take photographs, indulging in his hobby of passing the time while presiding over a paralyzed government that is powerless and incapable of action.”

Makhzoumi noted that the contract with Alvarez & Marsal for the forensic audit would expire at the end of the current month. He pointed out that the Governor of the Banque du Liban continues to refuse to provide the information and data requested by the company, while neither the President of the Republic nor the Prime Minister has made any comment on the matter.

Makhzoumi said that Prime Minister Najib Mikati had traveled with a delegation to visit the Pope at the Vatican, even though Lebanon’s real problem lies in Mecca, not Rome. He asked Mikati whether he dared to call a Cabinet meeting and thereby prove that he was not subordinate to Hezbollah and the Shiite Duo. Would he genuinely be able to work toward finding solutions to the country’s economic and social crises, as he had promised, or would he simply carry out the instructions of a minister from the Amal Movement?

Makhzoumi expressed his astonishment that the Prime Minister seemed content with appearances and traveling between Bkerke and Rome, without addressing the neglect of people’s concerns, as their living conditions had reached a dangerous point. He also asked what Mikati intended to do about the Governor of the Banque du Liban, who was refusing to cooperate with the forensic audit, and whether this government was truly a government of rescue or one intended to protect its allies within the corrupt establishment that had brought the country to ruin.

Regarding the elections, Makhzoumi affirmed that he would form an opposition list in Beirut and would also have a presence outside the capital. He stressed the need to unite ranks and reject the corrupt political class currently ruling the country.