President Michel Aoun announced Wednesday that Lebanon will no longer be “a laboratory for experiments,” nine days after he was elected as the country’s 13th president.
“In the past, Lebanon was turned into a laboratory for crises, but we have got rid of that and we are no longer a laboratory for experiments and we will more and more overcome the crisis,” Aoun told an educational delegation at the Baabda Palace.
“Everyone now realizes that victory would be for everyone and defeat would be for everyone,” Aoun added.
Analysts have warned that Aoun’s election will not be a “magic wand” for Lebanon, which has seen longstanding political divisions exacerbated by the war in neighboring Syria and has struggled to deal with an influx of more than a million Syrian refugees.
In addition to pledges of economic growth and security, Aoun said in his oath of office that Lebanon must work to ensure Syrian refugees “can return quickly” to their country.
Aoun also pledged to endorse an “independent foreign policy” and to protect Lebanon from “the fires burning across the region.”
Lebanon
