In Lebanon, which is experiencing an economic and political crisis, where they will vote for a new parliament in May, the election campaign of the Ukrainian-French businessman Omar Arfush, whose headquarters was headed by his brother, the well-known Ukrainian TV manager Walid Arfush, is gaining momentum.
Omar Arfoush, who intends to become the prime minister of Lebanon following the elections, officially presented his Third Republic party at the founding conference in Beirut.
The event was broadcast on the air of the popular Lebanese channel MTV, it was attended by the top faces of Europe – French Senator Nathalie Goulet, well-known fighter against corruption, French lawyer William Bourdon, Chairman of the EU Military Committee General Claudio Graziano, President of the Mayors of European cities, Mayor of Florence Dario Nardella, Euronews President Michael Peters, British lawyer, member of the House of Lords, Baron Kenneth MacDonald, judge from Italy, Deputy Prosecutor of the Rome Court of Appeal Simonetta Matone and others.
“Arfoush is running with a strong program to fight the corruption of the hereditary elite that brought Lebanon to its knees, the return of stolen assets and a new deal with the Gulf states,” Goulet said.
General Graziano also supported Omar Arfush.
“Graziano promises Lebanon help if the Third Republic wins. This is a very rare case when a military man in the highest position participates in a political event. Lawyer Bourdon was very critical of the current Lebanese politicians, called them a mafia. He is the founder of the Sherpa legal organization, which “confiscates the property of dictators and corrupt officials around the world. Together with the French financial tribunal, they confiscated money in banks, cars, houses in African countries and sold them at auction,” Harfoush told Strana.
Omar Arfush officially established his party “Third Republic” in Beirut
Arfush’s “Revival of Lebanon” program includes the rejection of the distribution of political posts according to the ethno-confessional principle (now the posts are divided between Christians and Muslims according to quotas), the direct election of the president (now the parliament chooses him), the return of funds stolen by the Lebanese elite.
Arfoush, according to him, is supported by the Lebanese youth, who took to the streets in October 2019 demanding a change in the “eternal” elites.
The participants of the “October Revolution” are planning to form a cabinet of “technocrats” together in Arfoush, start fighting corruption and carry out large-scale economic reforms in Lebanon, where, according to the World Bank, more than half of the country’s population lives below the poverty line, and a sharp drop in the purchasing power of the local currency hit hard on the majority of workers and employees.
Arfoush plans to create a Supreme Court of Lebanon to fight corruption among judges, as well as an independent police force and a High Council for Transparency, which will monitor new officials, deprive them of their status and prosecute if their guilt is proven.
Omar Arfush election billboards are everywhere in Lebanon