RIYADH-French Senator and Vice Chairman of the Commission of Foreign Affairs and Defense, Nathalie Goulet has said that politicians in Lebanon do not care about the sufferings of people in the country.
In an interview with Okaz/Saudi Gazette, Goulet said, "The situation in Lebanon is heading from bad to worse. The economy is on the verge of destruction and the public health sector is deteriorating."
Regarding the latest developments that led to the Kingdom’s expulsion of the Lebanese ambassador, Goulet noted that Lebanon suffers from several problems, which are old and have not been resolved so far.
“Some political leaders in Lebanon have a lot of money and are only interested in amassing wealth. I think the party that runs the country at the moment is Hezbollah, and Lebanon is plunging to a dark path with the government seen nowhere,” she said.
Goulet, who is also chairperson of the GCC-French Parliamentary Friendship Group in the French Senate, said Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is an ambitious project of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman and it is on the right track in diversifying the sources of income.
"Al-Ula has distinguished services and wonderful attractions for tourists from around the world, and it will be an ideal and safe tourist destination as tourists are looking for such places. I visited Diriyah, and it was an incredible visit, and I think it will attract a lot of tourists,” she said.
Regarding France’s war on Islamic extremism, Goulet said: “We have not finished the war yet. We are currently working on organizing and controlling financial matters. In this particular aspect, we are trying to benefit from the Saudi experience in collecting zakat through official platforms.”
Goulet said they took the decision after finding even small mosques could collect more than one million euros in cash as charity during the month of Ramadan.
“We don’t know where this money is going,” said Goulet, who is also vice chairman of the Senate investigations committee on tax evasion.