BEIRUT, (Reuters) – Lebanese politician Saad al-Hariri abandoned his months-long effort to form a new government yesterday, dimming the chances of a cabinet being agreed any time soon that could start rescuing the country from financial meltdown.
Hariri announced his decision after meeting President Michel Aoun, saying it was clear they could not agree, underscoring the political squabbling that has blocked the formation of a cabinet even as Lebanon sinks deeper into crisis.
Hariri, a former prime minister and Lebanon’s leading Sunni Muslim politician, was designated in October to assemble a government following the resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s cabinet in the wake of the Beirut port explosion.
Protesters blocked some roads near predominantly Sunni areas of Beirut after his announcement on Thursday, setting fire to trash and tyres. Army troops deployed, firing in the air to disperse protesters who pelted the soldiers with missiles. One soldier was wounded, a security source said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Lebanese leaders seemed unable to find a solution to the crisis that they had created, calling the failure to form a cabinet another terrible incident.
The secretary general of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said the ramifications of the step would be serious.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Hariri’s decision was “disappointing” and urged Lebanese leaders to put aside their differences and form a government.
The World Bank has described Lebanon’s depression as one of the sharpest in modern history. The currency has lost more than 90% of its value in two years; poverty has spread and there have been crippling fuel shortages, prompting growing fears of social unrest.
Hariri’s decision marks the culmination of months of conflict over cabinet posts between him and Aoun, the Maronite Christian head of state who is allied with the Iran-backed Shi’ite Muslim group Hezbollah.
Hariri and Aoun blamed each other.
“You can’t ask me to do everything I can and there is another who doesn’t want to sacrifice anything,” Hariri said to local television Al Jadeed in an interview hours after his decision, saying that Aoun had insisted on a blocking minority in any cabinet and that was a main stumbling bloc.