Beirut - (AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron stressed, in an interview with three media outlets, including the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar, published Friday, the need to "change the leadership" in Lebanon and "remove" the political leaders who obstruct reforms.

The French president, who has been trying in vain since September 2020 to urge the Lebanese political class to adopt the necessary reforms to get the country out of the political and economic crisis, considered that "Lebanon's problem is to solve people's problems and remove those who do not know how to do that."

And he believed that what is required after that is "restructuring the financial system and developing a plan with an honest president, an honest prime minister, and a work team that implements it and has the support of the street."

"The leadership of this country must be changed," he added.

Lebanon is still without a president since the term of former President Michel Aoun ended on October 31.

The representatives, who are deeply divided between the pro-Iranian Hezbollah camp and the anti-Hezbollah camp, did not manage to elect a new president, despite holding ten sessions for this purpose so far.

A resigned government with limited powers, headed by Najib Mikati, is running the country, which is suffering from a severe economic collapse.

Macron stressed the need to "help" Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who "is trying, despite everything, to do the best he can."

In response to a question about the commander of the Lebanese army, General Joseph Aoun, who is considered one of the most prominent candidates for the presidency, but he is not an official candidate for it.

"What I care about are the Lebanese women and men, not those who live at their expense," added the French president, who regretted the massive emigration of young men.

He stressed that he wanted to "help the emergence of an alternative political solution (...) without any leniency with the political forces," calling for "not to concede anything to those who have influenced in recent years and want to stay and practice extortion."

Macron, who returned from Amman, where he participated in the "Baghdad 2" regional conference on Iraq, revealed that he would work "in the coming weeks on a similar framework with Lebanon."

He stressed that he is "convinced" that "the Lebanese, Syrian and other issues can only be resolved by creating a framework for discussion that includes Iran, given its regional influence."