Hope to form a new government has shattered on Thursday after another failed meeting between Saad Hariri and President Michel Aoun pushed Hariri’s resignation.
Speaking to reporters after a brief meeting with Aoun in Baabda Palace, Hariri said that there was no change on Aoun‘s part, after the latter requested adjustments to things that Hariri deemed essential to the lineup.
Hariri said he offered Aoun more time to think about it but ultimately concluded that there will be no agreement with the president, Hariri noted before stepping down after over 8 months of attempts.
It is not clear what exactly the disagreement was about, except that Aoun requested adjustments that were not fit with what Hariri deemed a critical part of a Cabinet of specialists in line with the French initiative.
The fight over the distribution of ministries and power continues to be the Lebanese leaders’ main concern over the collapse of the country.
Immediately after Hariri‘s resignation, the dollar jumped to a record-breaking of 20,000 LBP on the black market.
Hariri is the second designated prime minister in the past 11 months to resign from the task of government formation.
