Lebanon’s Government Meets for First Time
BEIRUT (Dispatches) – Lebanon has ushered in a new government that will need to walk a political tightrope, as President Michel Aoun said its main task was to win back confidence.
Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government met for the first time on Wednesday.
"Your mission is delicate,” Aoun’s office cited him as telling the cabinet. "It is necessary to work to tackle the economic situation, restore the confidence of the international community in Lebanese institutions and reassure the Lebanese about their future,” Aoun said.
Lebanon, burdened with a public debt equivalent to about 150% of GDP, won pledges exceeding $11 billion at an international conference in April 2018 conditional on reforms.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab has announced the formation of the country’s new government, saying his cabinet will try to meet the demands of protesters.
Speaking at the Lebanese presidential palace in Beirut on Tuesday, Diab described his government — made up of 20 specialist ministers backed by the country’s political parties — as a technocratic "rescue team” that would work to achieve the goals of protesters who first took to the streets in October last year.
"This is a government that represents the aspirations of the demonstrators who have been mobilized nationwide for more than three months,” Diab said, adding that his government "will strive to meet their demands for an independent judiciary, for the recovery of embezzled funds, for the fight against illegal gains.”
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres welcomed the government formation and said he would work with Diab to support the reform agenda, Guterres’ spokesman said in a statement on Wednesday.
The formation of the new government under Diab came after the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement and its allies agreed on a cabinet that must urgently address the economic crisis and ensuing protests that toppled its predecessor.
Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government met for the first time on Wednesday.
"Your mission is delicate,” Aoun’s office cited him as telling the cabinet. "It is necessary to work to tackle the economic situation, restore the confidence of the international community in Lebanese institutions and reassure the Lebanese about their future,” Aoun said.
Lebanon, burdened with a public debt equivalent to about 150% of GDP, won pledges exceeding $11 billion at an international conference in April 2018 conditional on reforms.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab has announced the formation of the country’s new government, saying his cabinet will try to meet the demands of protesters.
Speaking at the Lebanese presidential palace in Beirut on Tuesday, Diab described his government — made up of 20 specialist ministers backed by the country’s political parties — as a technocratic "rescue team” that would work to achieve the goals of protesters who first took to the streets in October last year.
"This is a government that represents the aspirations of the demonstrators who have been mobilized nationwide for more than three months,” Diab said, adding that his government "will strive to meet their demands for an independent judiciary, for the recovery of embezzled funds, for the fight against illegal gains.”
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres welcomed the government formation and said he would work with Diab to support the reform agenda, Guterres’ spokesman said in a statement on Wednesday.
The formation of the new government under Diab came after the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement and its allies agreed on a cabinet that must urgently address the economic crisis and ensuing protests that toppled its predecessor.