Lebanon Heading into More Turmoil as Hariri Quits

By July 16, 2021August 2nd, 2021Latest News, Middle East
Saad Hariri

Background

 

Prime minister-designate, Saad Hariri, quit his mission of forming a government after months of political stalemate. Hariri had been tasked with the job when he was nominated as PM-designate last October. The seasoned politician resigned from his post in 2019 after a major political uprising demanded the fall of the political elites. Lebanon has been without a government for nearly a year after Hassan Diab and his cabinet resigned amidst a devastating port explosion last August which destroyed swaths of Beirut.

On Wednesday, Hariri presented a cabinet lineup consisting of 24 ministers to President Michael Aoun and gave him until the next day to approve it. It was widely understood that Hariri would step down if his cabinet were not approved as other proposed cabinet lineups had already been rejected many times before. Hariri had been in Egypt just before he presented Aoun with the list of ministers, and the Egyptians expressed their full support for Hariri and his initiatives. However, the next day Aoun and Hariri sat down for a meeting that lasted 20 minutes, and the two were unable to agree on a cabinet formation, prompting Hariri’s resignation. “God help the country” were the words that Hariri used after he met with the president.

Despite international pressure from France and other Arab states, Lebanon is still without a government, and Hariri’s resignation threatens to push the country further into the rabbit hole. France’s foreign minister Jean Yves Le Drian described Lebanon’s inability to form a government as “yet another terrible incident.” A few days earlier, Le Drian announced that sanctions would be imposed on corrupt officials by the end of July.

Protest

 

In the aftermath of Hariri’s resignation, protests and roadblocks could be seen all across Lebanon. Supporters of Saad Hariri threw stones at the army and burned tires throughout Beirut. Predominantly Sunni neighborhoods witnessed protests by Hariri supporters as they closed roads around cite sportive in Beirut.  Social upheaval will likely continue as Hariri’s supporters are filled with anger and tensions are running high because of the overall crisis. The local currency plunged to a new low of 20,000 pounds to the dollar immediately after Hariri’s resignation. On Friday, the continuing devaluation of the currency prompted protests to break out in Jabal Mohsen in northern Tripoli. The Lebanese army fired shots in the air and threw tear gas after protesters prevented them from opening the roads. Meanwhile in Beirut, the cola roundabout was also closed off.

The failure to form a government will have significant ramifications on Lebanon as much-needed foreign aid was conditioned on the creation of a new cabinet, and hopes for a bailout from the IMF have significantly faded. Hezbollah, which holds the most power in Lebanon and is an ally of President Aoun, was blamed by many for preventing the cabinet formation. One can assess that Hezbollah is waiting to see how negotiations play out with the US and Tehran before giving the “okay” to end the political deadlock. President Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil are mainly at fault for blocking Hariri’s proposals as they both aim to consolidate as much power as possible, with Hariri claiming he would not be able to even run his own cabinet. Although Gebran Bassil called on Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to help with the political crisis, there is no actual evidence that Hezbollah did much to help. Instead, Hezbollah likely portrayed itself as taking significant action without actually doing much to facilitate the government formation.

Lastly, Lebanon’s future has become more uncertain with Hariri’s resignation, and it is up to Aoun to convene parliament for negotiations regarding a new PM-designate, which is unlikely to happen before Eid Al-Adha. Lebanon is also struggling from a lack of fuel and Hariri claimed that he would have eased the gas crisis since he made a deal with Egypt to bring Egyptian fuel through Syria into Lebanon. It is unclear who the next PM-designate will be and if he will have the same backing from the West and other Arab states that Hariri had. Unfortunately, the fate of Lebanon is in corrupt hands.

Teymour Nsouli – has written extensively on Middle Eastern affairs and has had many articles published on a variety of platforms.