The founder of the “Third Republic of Lebanon” party, Omar Harfouch, arrived in Brussels yesterday, Tuesday, May 2, with the goal of several meetings related to dossiers on Lebanese affairs. The Lebanese politician met with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, European Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, a number of MEPs, and representatives of human rights organizations and non-governmental organizations.

This came a day after the U.S. Congressional Foreign Relations Committee sent an urgent letter urging U.S. President Joe Biden to urgently address the situation in Lebanon and not to support any president of the Republic of Lebanon supported by the pro-Shiite duo, Suleiman-Franjieh, who said they wanted to “fight corruption and punish the corrupt,” unusually just a week after Harfouch met with the sender of the letter to President Biden, Senator Risch. Indeed, it is far-fetched and laughable that those who have always been part of the power system in Lebanon can carry on the fight against corruption in the country.

Harfouch’s presence in Brussels coincided with the announcement by the “resigning Lebanese prime minister – Najib Mikati – according to the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, close to Hezbollah – of his intention to leave Lebanon permanently and liquidate all his affairs there immediately after the election of a new President for Lebanon and the formation of a new government.”

A statement that amounts to an admission of defeat in the face of the strongest candidate for the leadership of the new government, Omar Harfouch, who is currently the subject of a fierce hate campaign by Mikati, as the sole promoter of a liberal, innovative and anti-corruption political proposal.