By Shawna Chen
Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stepped down Thursday amid months of deadlock and years-long turmoil over the country’s economic collapse.
Driving the news: His departure sinks the chances of forming a government to pursue immediate reforms for recovery, per AP, and is likely to bring greater instability to Lebanon.
Catch up quick: Lebanon has not had a working government since Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s Cabinet resigned days after a deadly explosion last August. Protesters blamed the disaster, which killed more than 211 people, injured 6,000 and left roughly 300,000 homeless, on the ruling elite’s corruption.
What they’re saying: “I have excused myself from forming the government,” Hariri said after a 20-minute meeting with President Michel Aoun, according to AP. “May God help the country.”
Hariri’s resignation is “yet another disappointing development for the Lebanese people,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Worth noting: The national currency dropped to a new low on Thursday. The Lebanese pound, which has been pegged to the dollar for 30 years, at a rate of about 1500 to the dollar hit 22,000 after Hariri quit. The currency has lost more than lost more than 95% of its value, AP reports.
The big picture: Lebanon has undergone one of the world’s worst economic collapses in history since 2019.
Lebanon crisis: Political crisis escalates
after Hariri quit gov. formation mission
By Shawna Chen
Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stepped down Thursday amid months of deadlock and years-long turmoil over the country’s economic collapse.
Driving the news: His departure sinks the chances of forming a government to pursue immediate reforms for recovery, per AP, and is likely to bring greater instability to Lebanon.
Protesters confront Lebanese soldiers during a demonstration in Beirut. Photo: Marwan Naamani/Picture alliance via Getty Images
Catch up quick: Lebanon has not had a working government since Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s Cabinet resigned days after a deadly explosion last August. Protesters blamed the disaster, which killed more than 211 people, injured 6,000 and left roughly 300,000 homeless, on the ruling elite’s corruption.
What they’re saying: “I have excused myself from forming the government,” Hariri said after a 20-minute meeting with President Michel Aoun, according to AP. “May God help the country.”
Hariri’s resignation is “yet another disappointing development for the Lebanese people,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Worth noting: The national currency dropped to a new low on Thursday. The Lebanese pound, which has been pegged to the dollar for 30 years, at a rate of about 1500 to the dollar hit 22,000 after Hariri quit. The currency has lost more than lost more than 95% of its value, AP reports.
The big picture: Lebanon has undergone one of the world’s worst economic collapses in history since 2019.