Lebanese President Michel Aoun (left) and Prime Minister-designate Hassan Diab at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut. – AFP
The Lebanon in crisis got a new government this Tuesday evening, led by Hassan Diab,
more than three months after resignation under pressure from Saad Hariri street.
The list of government officials was read by a senior official at the presidential palace in Beirut after President Michel Aoun signed the document, which was the subject of more than a month of heated negotiations.
Respond to protesters’ demands
Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab has promised that his government will do everything it can to respond to the demands of the protest movement that is agitating the country and calling for an overhaul of the political system.
“It is a government which expresses the aspirations of the demonstrators throughout the country, mobilized for more than three months, which will work to meet their demands: independence of the justice, recovery of embezzled funds, fight against illegal enrichment”, he said shortly after the announcement of the formation of his cabinet.
Lebanon has been living since October 17 at the rhythm of an unprecedented protest movement against a ruling class deemed to be corrupt and incompetent. The country has been awaiting a new government since the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri on October 29. After weeks of procrastination, Hassan Diab, an engineering professor and former education minister, was tasked with forming a government on December 19.
Worsening economic crisis
Hassan Diab was committed to choosing independent technocrats, as the street demands. He also promised a government within one month to six weeks, in a country where cabinet formation sometimes lasts several months due to endless negotiations due to a distribution of portfolios ensuring a representation of the different communities of this country multifaith.
In three months of protest, anger has only grown among the protesters who castigate the inertia of leaders: the economic crisis worsens with mass layoffs, drastic banking restrictions and a sharp depreciation of the Lebanese pound face to the dollar.
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