New Delhi: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his resignation Tuesday after failing to pacify widespread protests that rocked the country for nearly two weeks. In a televised speech, Hariri said his decision was the result of reaching a “dead end”.
“Jobs come and go, but what’s important is the country,” said the 49-year-old.
The protests, which were triggered by the government’s 17 October decision to levy taxes on WhatsApp calls, are indicative of growing public frustration with a government seen as corrupt, and the economic crisis facing the country.
ThePrint explains how Lebanon, generally seen as an oasis of relative stability in volatile West Asia, found itself at the centre of its own “Arab Spring”.
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A dynast steps down
Saad Hariri is the son of former prime minister Rafik Hariri and gained prominence after his father was assassinated in 2005. After Rafik’s death, he was made the leader of the Sunni political party Future Movement.
He is said to support pro-Western policies but is part of a coalition government with Hezbollah, the Shia-led militant group and political party backed by Iran.
In a television address Tuesday, Hariri explained his decision to resign and hand over the government to President Michel Aoun.
“For 13 days, the Lebanese people have waited for a decision for a political solution that stops the deterioration. And I have tried, during this period, to find a way out, through which to listen to the voice of the people,” he said.
Soon after the protests first began mid-October, the government retracted its decision to place a daily $0.20 (Rs 14.2) charge on voice calls made via WhatsApp and other apps like Facebook and Facetime. It also announced a slew of reforms to placate the disgruntled public, but the agitation refused to die down.
“It has become necessary for us to make a great shock to fix the crisis,” he said in his address.
Just a month ago, Hariri was hit with controversy over reports that he allegedly gave $16 million to a 20-year-old South African model he reportedly had an extramarital relationship with.
The payments were made between Hariri’s two terms as PM and he has neither admitted nor denied sending money to the model. But as the reports came out last month, they only served to further dent the image of a besieged politician leading a crumbling economy and whose own businesses are struggling to pay salaries.
What were the protests about?
For weeks, there has been a shutdown across schools, universities, offices and shops in Lebanon, with protesters camping in tents and filling up Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square.
The mobilisation was sparked by the WhatsApp call tax, but there were other factors at play, primarily, public anger about economic stagnation, political corruption, and the government’s failure to address basic infrastructural needs like 24×7 electricity, tap water, and garbage disposal.
According to a report in AP, Lebanon has one of the world’s highest public debts in the world, standing at 150 per cent of GDP.
As a result, last month, Hariri’s government declared an “economic state of emergency”, announcing increased taxes and freezing of public sector employment.
However, the protesters are not just angry with Hariri and his government, but the entire political class of the country — “All of them means all of them” being a popular chant.
The protests, which have been widely covered by the foreign press, are being described by many as a revolutionary new Arab Spring — a reference to the momentous pro-democracy protests that swept West Asia in the 2010s.
On Sunday, protesters formed a 170-km-long human chain, waving flags and calling for a technocratic government of professionals and experts who would draft a new electoral law and hold fresh elections.
“There’s a lot of work to be done. Now we’re expecting more than for them to listen to us. We expect that we will start taking part in the decision-making. They controlled us for the last 30 years, and it’s been disastrous on every level,” Lina Sabra, 65-year-old protester, told The New York Times.
Who are the major stakeholders?
Lebanon’s current political system is designed to accommodate representatives from 18 of the country’s major religious sects, the largest being Sunni and Shia Muslims and Christian Maronites.
But this system has often meant that each sect looks after their own individual interests, and created political uncertainty, and even delays in government formation.
In 2018, Lebanon saw parliamentary elections after nine years of political deadlock and parliament’s inability to decide upon a new government.
Hariri, who was appointed prime minister in 2016 for his second term, was not just facing pressure to resign from protesters, but equal pressure to stay on in power.
On Friday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah expressed his disapproval about calls for the government’s resignation.
Hours before Hariri’s announcement to resign, supporters of Hezbollah and Amal Movement, another powerful Shia party, attacked peaceful protesters in Beirut and destroyed tents set up by them.
Even so, it has been reported that the protesters belong to no particular faith and represent all sects, signaling unity across religious lines over issues that affect all.
President Michel Aoun and the Lebanese parliament will have to soon declare a new prime minister. Until then, Hariri will continue to serve in a caretaker capacity.
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