Lebanese Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti announced his resignation on Monday (August 3rd) amid disagreements with the government, in a country in the midst of economic collapse and unable to initiate the reforms expected by the international community.

Lebanon has been experiencing for several months an unprecedented depreciation of its currency, soaring prices, large-scale layoffs and banking restrictions on withdrawals and transfers abroad.

"I have decided to resign from my post as Minister of Foreign Affairs, wishing success to the government and those in charge of state management, but also wishing them to reconsider many of their policies and practices," said Nassif Hitti in a press release.

Reforms that are long overdue

He also deplored "the absence of a real will to undertake a structural and total reform which is necessary and which is demanded by our society and by the international community".

"To build a state, you need creative minds, a clear vision, sincere intentions, a culture of institutions and the rule of law", he noted.

This resignation comes more than a week after the visit to Lebanon of the head of French diplomacy, Jean-Yves Le Drian, who did not mince his words by evoking the "passive side" of the authorities and who had called for expected reforms "for too long".

Nassif Hitti went to the grand seraglio, the seat of the Prime Minister, on Monday morning to submit his resignation to the head of government, Hassan Diab.

This government was formed at the end of January, several months after the resignation of Saad Hariri and his team.

Almost half of the population lives in poverty 

Saad Hariri resigned under the pressure of an unprecedented popular uprising, triggered in October 2019, denouncing an entire political class accused of corruption and incompetence, almost unchanged for decades.

The government adopted an economic rescue plan at the end of April aimed at reviving growth and consolidating public finances, but reforms, particularly in the electricity sector, are struggling to materialize.

The authorities initiated negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in mid-May, but the process remains at a standstill.

Almost half of the inhabitants live in poverty and 35% of the working population is unemployed, according to official statistics.

With AFP

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