GOVERNMENT LEADERS EMPHASIZE ECONOMIC REFORM WITH

UNCLAS BEIRUT 001247 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM EAID PTER OREP LE SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT LEADERS EMPHASIZE ECONOMIC REFORM WITH CODEL PRICE ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On November 10, Prime Minister Saad Hariri, President Michel Sleiman, Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, and former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora separately told visiting Codel Price that they welcomed U.S. congressional support to the Lebanese parliament and noted the multitude of tasks, including economic reform, that faced the new government. Hariri told the Codel that he would immediately launch an economic reform plan focused on lowering public debt and increasing foreign investment. Berri welcomed parliamentary exchanges, and Sleiman expected that Lebanese dynamism would ensure the country's economic advancement and argued for solving the Palestinian-Israeli issue. Siniora linked rising extremism in the Middle East to a lack of job opportunities and said Lebanon needed to focus on the implementation of already agreed-upon economic reform laws. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) As part of the House Democracy Partnership (HDP) program, Codel Price, accompanied by Ambassador and poloffs, met with key Lebanese leaders on November 10. Codel members were HDP Chairman David Price (D-NC); Ranking Member, Rep. David Dreier (R-CA); and Representatives Lois Capps (D-CA), Keith Ellison (D-MN),Mazie Hirono (D-HI),and Charles Boustany (R-LA). ¶3. (SBU) Members of Codel Price congratulated President Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on the previous day's formation of the new government and expressed unwavering U.S. commitment to Lebanon. The Codel also briefed their interlocutors on the House Democracy Partnership (HDP) program and emphasized their desire to continue working with Lebanon on the basis of "bipartisanship, friendship, and support." HARIRI TOUTS ECONOMIC AGENDA -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Hariri declared that Lebanon needed "all the help it could get" to enact "proper reforms" to ensure its democracy. He noted that without checks and balances, Lebanon would return to the "problems of the previous period" when control was ceded to external powers. Building parliamentarians' capacity strengthened their ability to oversee the work of the executive, he assessed, adding that former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, now leader of the Future Movement parliamentary bloc, would play an important mentoring role to new MPs. 
 ¶5. (SBU) Hariri said he planned "huge reforms" to grow Lebanon's economy. Financial reform was key to energizing the private sector and investment, he emphasized. The Lebanese government had passed economic reform legislation in 2002, Hariri said, and now needed to focus on implementation. Hariri reported that the opposition and the majority had agreed on the need for reforms -- including privatization -- so he had a "free pass" to move forward. Hariri described himself as "completely focused" on lowering the public debt and described plans to increase foreign direct investment in services, such as electricity, to improve those sectors. Rep. Boustany urged Lebanon's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and underscored the U.S. Congress' desire to help Lebanon reach its potential. BERRI SAYS MUCH WORK AHEAD -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Rep. Price congratulated Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri for getting parliament "up and running" again and expressed HDP's desire to continue its work with the body. He also told Berri that HDP hoped to collaborate with the Lebanese parliament on establishing seminars for committee leaders and a resource center for MPs. Berri expressed his support for cooperation between the parliament and the U.S. Congress, following the vote of confidence for the new government. Parliament would need to address "everything," Berri assessed, including privatization, electricity, debt, and the Palestinian issue. SLEIMAN POINTS TO PALESTINIAN ISSUE -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Lebanon has paid a high price in instability for the common values it shared with the United States, such as democracy, human rights, public freedoms, and fighting fanaticism, President Michel Sleiman told Codel Price. Codel members explained that Lebanon had been an obvious choice for collaboration in the region, given those values. Sleiman said that as army commander, he had felt strong U.S. support during the 2007 Nahr al-Barid campaign and that American support continued to help Lebanon maintain its "special role" in the region. ¶8. (SBU) Sleiman argued that the key to preserving Lebanon's "cherished values" was to find peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The restitution of Palestinian rights was the "most important" issue to the Lebanese because Lebanon could not provide a decent life for them. Since the Palestinians could cause internal "trouble," he said, solving the Palestinian issue would put Lebanon's other problems "on track." Sleiman noted that, for the first time, Lebanon had a government of its "own volition," and he assured Codel Price that he did not believe that U.S. engagement with Syria would come at Lebanon's expense. ¶9. (SBU) Sleiman argued that Lebanon had gained the world's confidence as the "Switzerland of the Orient" through its ability to weather the financial downturn. The Lebanese diaspora had also regained its confidence in the state, feeding the economy as well, he said. Lebanon needed to build its institutions and push economic, political, judicial, and administrative reforms, and then it could address its public debt, Sleiman said. Lebanese dynamism could make the country a trade, commercial, agricultural, and cultural center in the region, he believed. SINIORA LINKS ECONOMY AND EXTREMISM -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora observed that Lebanon was at the "crossroads" with the "forces of extremism" in the region. Without constructive action on the many political and economic challenges facing the Arab world, he feared, "forces of extremism" would note the "meager results." Siniora assessed that unless the Arab world created 100 million new jobs in the future to address its population surge, extremists would exploit governments' shortcomings. The priority of the new government, Siniora confirmed, would be moving the backlog of over 100 parliamentary-approved laws through the cabinet, with special focus on financial and administrative reform. ¶11. (U) Codel Price has cleared this cable. DAUGHTON