- Tweeter
republish
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned Tuesday thirteen days after the start of the popular protest movement that drew tens of thousands of people to the streets. The resignation came hours after violent clashes between protesters and counter-protesters swept through downtown Beirut, where anti-government rallies were held.
With our correspondent in Beirut, Paul Khalifeh
The resignation of the government was one of the main demands of the protesters and President Michel Aoun must now convene binding parliamentary consultations to appoint a new Prime Minister, probably this week to avoid a too long power vacuum.
The Parliament is dominated by the political parties that the demonstrators hold responsible for all the evils of Lebanon and it is nevertheless these same parties who will finally choose the future Prime Minister.
Two possible scenarios
Two scenarios are now possible. Either Saad Hariri is again appointed prime minister but the negotiations for the formation of the future cabinet will be difficult, especially as they will take place under the close surveillance of a bubbling street. Either Michel Aoun, Hezbollah and their allies - the majority in Parliament - choose another candidate, which will discontent the street Sunni, because the Prime Minister is still from this community, and will open a new dimension in the crisis.
Anyway, in this confrontation between the street and the power, the losers of this round are the president Michel Aoun and the Hezbollah, who did not wish the resignation of Saad Hariri without political counterparts.
" Why the crisis breaks out today? The reason is that there is less money to be distributed and the Lebanese state is bankrupt, almost bankrupt. For example, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which donated a lot of money, especially to a part of the Sunni community represented by Saad Hariri, today Saudi Arabia does not want to put any more money. money in Lebanon since it considers that Prime Minister Saad Hariri is not able to counter the influence of Hezbollah backed by Iran who is the sworn enemy of the Saudis, "says Agnès Levallois, research master at the Foundation for Strategic Research, Vice-President of the Middle East Mediterranean Research Institute. .
A change of system
It is therefore too early to name the winners. In any case, the protesters, who have raised the bar by demanding a change in the denominational system, based on a division of power between communities, will not see their wishes fulfilled at this stage.
" Popular revolt transcends communities and regions. And the political class as a whole did not understand, did not see coming this sling. And she is disarmed, she does not know what to do. The only one who is speaking today is the leader of Hezbollah who will soon make his third speech in less than two weeks on this crisis. The Hezbollah leader has in mind to keep the status quo, that is to say a state that protects him while the real state, the real decision is in the hands of Hezbollah which is the armed arm of Iran in Mediterranean, installed in Lebanon ", analyzes Antoine Basbous, political scientist and director of the Observatory of the Arab Countries.
Saad Hariri resigned because it was probably not possible for him to fulfill all our demands. We will stay here until the resignation of the Speaker and the Speaker. We want everyone to resign, not just him.
[Reportage] Scenes of jubilation in Beirut after the resignation of Saad Hariri 30/10/2019 - by Laure Stephan Play
" What the protesters are demanding today is to get out of this system because the very nature of this system ultimately leads to the impasse in which the political class. This system of alliance between these different communities leads to a permanent bargain between these community leaders to share the cake, "continues Agnès Levallois.
It will therefore be necessary to wait for the composition of the future cabinet to see if some of their demands relating to the fight against corruption have been taken into account.