Hariri opens up to a younger audience
Lebanon PM tells pupils that he quit from Saudi Arabia for dramatic effect
It took a group of school pupils to get Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri to open up about his resignation late last year, and other personal topics he often avoids discussing.
Mr Hariri took questions from children aged between 10 and 14 on local TV station MTV’s
Ring the Bell programme, where he admitted that he announced his resignation from Saudi Arabia for dramatic effect.
“I saw that there was a big problem for Lebanon so I decided to take the ball and whistle and get out of the court,” he said. “I was afraid for the country and I had to make a positive shock to unite it.”
Mr Hariri withdrew his resignation after a month.
The pupils also asked him if he knew who had assassinated his father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri, in 2005. He said he would wait for the results of a UN-backed tribunal that has been investigating the case since 2009.
“I want justice, not revenge,” Mr Hariri said. “There is a difference between taking justice by hand or by law, and we have chosen to have an international tribunal so I await judgment.”
There were lighter moments as well.
Mr Hariri rarely speaks about his mother, Nidal Bustani, but he told the pupils that she had married again, was living in Jordan – and she still referred to him by his childhood nickname “Saadi”.
He said his own three children were living outside of Lebanon so that they could have a normal life without security guards.
Although the pupils are too young to vote, Mr Hariri was also asked about Lebanon’s coming parliamentary elections.
He said he hoped the country would not vote for candidates based on their family lineage but on their ability to serve the people.
“In 2005, people voted for [Rafik] Hariri and the votes came to me,” he said.
“In 2018, people will vote for Saad Hariri.”
Other topics included Hezbollah’s weapons, Lebanon’s continuing dispute over territory along the border with Israel and sectarianism.
“The difference between Sunnis and Shiites is not religious but political, and we as Lebanese should not fall into it,” he said.
The pupils presented Mr Hariri with a cigar box after the interview but advised him not to smoke because he would damage his health.
Mr Hariri posted a picture to Instagram and Twitter, thanking the pupils for the “fun” interview.