BEIRUT, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Tuesday called on the protesters to leave the streets, while assuring that he supports all of their demands and implementation of reforms.
"If the Lebanese stay in the streets, they will ruin the country and we will reach a disastrous situation. We still have the opportunity to get out of our current situation if people go back to their work and we restore normal life in the country," Aoun said in a televised interview.
Aoun added that he had asked the protesters to appoint a representative whose responsibility will be to negotiate their demands with Lebanese authorities, but protesters have refused his proposal.
The president said he would be capable of taking concrete measures upon the formation of a new government because he does not have full authority to implement the demands of protesters.
The Taif agreement, which ended the civil war in Lebanon, restricted the president's authority by limiting his power to enhancing the constitution and preserving Lebanon's independence, unity, and territorial integrity while the main decisions in the country should be taken by the council of ministers.
"I came to office not to make money or to seek a political future at my age but to achieve freedom, independence and sovereignty," Aoun said.
The president elaborated that his three main goals included the fight against corruption, achieving economic prosperity and building a secular state.
He said that this can be implemented by forming a "homogenous" government.
"This is why we are taking a bit of time to reach a consensus on a government that can work together on implementing people's demands and restore their confidence," he said.
Aoun said that there was a possibility to start with parliamentary consultations on Thursday or Friday of this week to name a new prime minister who will form a new government.
"We cannot form a pure technocrat government because it does not have any political representation in the parliament. It may probably be a mixed government that will include technocrat figures and politicians," he said.
When asked about whether the economic crisis in Lebanon was due to his political consensus with Hezbollah which is causing foreign pressure on Lebanon to get rid of Shiite political party, Aoun said he cannot get rid of a party that represents one third of the Lebanese.
Aoun said that Lebanon is facing an economic siege.
"We are telling the international community that we are suffering economically. They are not responding to our requests for help. They are putting Lebanon under an economic siege. This does not respect UN's convention," he said.
Aoun criticized the Europeans for discussing ways of integrating Syrian refugees into the Lebanese society.
"We are not enemies with Syria but we cannot take the burden of refugees anymore and the international community is waiting for a political solution which we can wait for in Lebanon," he said.
Aoun said that his consensus with Hezbollah should not be a reason for the United States to impose sanctions or pressure Lebanon.
He also called upon the Lebanese people not to withdraw their money from banks to avoid a collapse in the banking sector.
Lebanon has been facing a serious economic crisis in the past few months with a shortage of the U.S. dollars that started in August due to the drop in cash remittances by Lebanese expatriates which reduce the central bank's foreign currency reserves.
This has created panic among the Lebanese who flocked to the banks to withdraw their money and store them in their houses out of fear of losing their money since banks hold most of the government's public debt.
Meanwhile, a nationwide protest started around 27 days ago which led to resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, as protesters demanded for basic services such as electricity, clean water, proper healthcare, and, most importantly, a complete change of the current political system which they consider as fully corrupt.
