French minister urges Lebanon to swiftly elect new president

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — France’s foreign minister has urged Lebanon’s political leadership to swiftly elect a new president and warned that a political vacuum could plunge the Mediterranean country into a deeper crisis. The country’s divided parliament has twice failed to elect a new president to succeed President Michel Aoun, whose term ends Oct. 31. The country has also been without a full-fledged government for months. France’s Catherine Colonna told reporters on Friday in Beirut that Lebanon “cannot handle the danger of a vacuum in its political leadership.” Lebanon is struggling through one of the world’s worst-ever economic crises, with about three-quarters of its population of 6 million living in poverty.