In an interview with Al-Jadeed last night, Saad Hariri said that the problems he has faced throughout his time as Prime Minister-designate continued to be an issue during his final meeting with President Michel Aoun.
It came down to two issues, Hariri revealed, (1) the naming of Christian ministers and (2) the Free Patriotic Movement’s refusal to grant a vote of confidence.
However, Hariri noted, the FPM, led by Gebran Bassil, did not want to grant a vote of confidence yet still wanted to gain veto power with the blocking one-third plus one.
“In what logic are they demanding a blocking one-third while they did not nominate me and they do not want to grant me confidence?” he asked.
In the face of these unwavering demands, Hariri submitted his resignation after nearly 9 months of attempts to form a rescue government in line with the French initiative.
The government would have implemented dire reforms needed to unlock billions of dollars in support to pull Lebanon out of its worst economic crisis in history.
“President Michel Aoun wants the formation of Michel Aoun’s government. If the president wants to form the government, let them change the Constitution,” he said during the interview.
It’s worth noting that Hariri is the second designated prime minister to fail to form a government with Aoun in the last 11 months following Hassan Diab’s resignation after the August 4 Beirt Port explosion.
Hariri said that his parliamentary bloc, Future Movement, will not name a candidate for a new PM-designate.
