Lebanon crisis deepens as Hariri quits
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s prime minister-designate Saad Hariri has stepped down, saying he was unable to form a government, nine months after accepting the challenge and as the country sinks deeper into crisis.
International donors remain adamant that a government must be established before they can provide funding, but political squabbling has repeatedly stymied such efforts and sent the currency to unprecedented lows that leave imported medicine and fuel increasingly unaffordable.
Sporadic clashes between the army and protesters flared, leaving an unspecified number of people wounded, medics said.
Hariri’s announcement – nearly a year after a deadly explosion at Beirut port forced the last government to resign – takes the political process back to square one and there is a clear risk of many more months of drift.
President Michel Aoun will now have to call on parliament to pick a new premier-designate, who will be tasked with assembling another cabinet, which in turn will have to be approved by the president and political factions.
Hariri’s decision followed a meeting with Aoun over his draft cabinet line-up. “There were amendments requested by the president, which I considered substantial,” Hariri said.
“It is clear that ... we will not be able to agree.”