Thu 15 July 2021:
Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stepped down today after failing to form the government for months, Anadolu Agency reports.
In a press conference after meeting President Michel Aoun at the Presidential Palace in capital Beirut, he said: “President Aoun’s position has not changed, and the amendments he requested are essential … he told me that it is difficult to reach a consensus, so I stepped down … may Allah help the country.”
On Wednesday, Hariri presented a new Cabinet line up of 24 ministers, hours after he returned from Cairo where he held talks with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi.
Both the leaders have accused each other of creating obstacles in forming a new government.
Lebanon has been unable to come up with a new administration since the resignation of Hassan Diab’s Cabinet on Aug. 10, 2020, six days after the massive blast that hit Port of Beirut.
The Arab country is facing a severe economic crisis, with the local currency losing nearly all its value against the US dollar. Streets across the country are witnessing massive protests and rallies.
The political deadlock left no one to address the spiraling economic crisis, rooted in years of mismanagement and corruption. The Lebanese pound, pegged to the dollar for nearly 30 years, has been in a free fall, losing more than 90 percent of its value since late 2019.
After news broke of Hariri stepping down, the pound hit a new low, selling for 20,000 to the dollar on the black market.
Hariri, one of Lebanon’s most powerful Sunni Muslim leaders, did not publicly endorse his replacement. According to Lebanon’s sectarian-based political system, the prime minister is picked from the ranks of Sunnis.
The 51-year-old Hariri has served as prime minister twice before, the first time from 2009-2011. His second time came in 2016, in an uneasy partnership with Aoun, an ally of the Shiite militant Hezbollah group, which is backed by Iran. At the time, Hariri had backed Aoun for president, ending nearly two years for Lebanon without a head of state, while he stepped in as premier.
