Almost nine months after he was tasked with forming the country’s new government, Lebanon’s Prime Minister- designate Saad Hariri has stepped down. Lebanon President Michel Aoun had not accepted the latest Cabinet lineup on Thursday after Hariri had submitted the proposal. The unlikelihood of the president agreeing to the proposal pushed Hariri to step down from forming the government.
The presidency office shared a statement that Hariri was refusing amendments to the proposal and already had made the decision to resign. Aoun had received messages from the US Secretary of State and French Foreign Minister to expedite the formation of the government. The Lebanese lira has been losing value since October 2019 and fell in value once again after Hariri’s resignation. Lebanon has not had a government since Prime Minister Hassan Diab stepped down in August 2020 after the Beirut port explosion.
