BEIRUT (Dispatches) – Lebanese President Michel Aoun tweeted on Saturday that he hopes “white smoke” will appear soon with regards to the formation of a new government.
The remark by the president comes as the situation deteriorated dramatically this week after the central bank decided to end subsidies for fuel products. The decision will likely lead to a hike in prices of almost all commodities in Lebanon.
The move by the central bank was rejected by both president and outgoing prime minister who said they were not notified in advance.
Major roads were jammed Friday as thousands of cars waited in long lines at petrol stations. People rushed to bakeries to by bread amid fears some might close down.
President Aoun called an “extraordinary” cabinet meeting on Friday to discuss the nationwide crisis but outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab, whose government resigned a year ago, declined to attend, saying the constitution restricts duties of his caretaker cabinet.
A senior official from Hezbollah resistance movement says the United States and its agents are responsible for the deteriorating financial and economic crisis in the country.
“The ongoing economic turmoil, which the Lebanese nation is undergoing, is the outcome of several factors. It all started with the American project in September 2001, and seeks [to ensure] protection of the Israeli regime as its main objective,” Lebanon’s Arabic-language al-Ahed news website quoted Sheikh Hassan al-Baghdadi, a member of Hezbollah’s Central Council, as saying.
He added, “When Americans failed to overthrow regional establishments and disintegrate them through wars, they once again resorted to economic sanctions and siege. The so-called October 17 Revolution was triggered by a bunch of corrupt elements under the supervision of the U.S. Embassy. It was the beginning of Lebanon’s financial collapse. The situation worsened as time went by and worried people about the future.”
The high-ranking Hezbollah official stated that such a policy pushed Lebanon to the edge of an abyss, and prompted the Zionist regime to wishfully think Lebanon’s deterrence power would vanish in the wake of Lebanon’s turmoil.