Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab said that he will not resign as prime minister, and this comes amid renewed popular protests condemning the deteriorating economic and financial conditions in the country.

Diab indicated - after his meeting today, Saturday, with the Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Raie - that the alternative to it does not exist.

He added that resignation means that his government will conduct business, perhaps for a year or more, considering this a crime against Lebanon, as he described it.

And on his government's negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to obtain financing, Diab said that the Fund's response is positive, and that the negotiations center around a program that takes into account all points of view.

Diab's comments came a day after a protest in the center of Beirut, protesting against the deteriorating economic and living conditions, in light of the high costs and a severe financial crisis resulting in difficulty in providing services and basic materials.

Sit-ins in Beirut demanded accountability for the corrupt (Anatolia)

The sit-in came at the invitation of a group calling itself the "National Salvation Front", which includes retired officers and soldiers, and with them the parliament member, retired Brigadier General Shamil Roukoz (the brother-in-law of President Michel Aoun) in addition to a group headed by former Minister of Communications Charbel Nahhas.

Sitters demanded the need to address the deteriorating economic conditions, hold accountable those who described them as corrupt, and activate the judiciary to recover the stolen money.

The Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, said yesterday that Lebanon is in a very difficult economic situation, and it needs difficult reforms to overcome its crisis.

Georgieva added, in an interview with Al-Jazeera, as part of the "Today's Meeting" program, that the Fund is continuing talks with the Lebanese government, which has begun a plan of action that will lead the country in general towards reforming structural weaknesses.

She explained that the talks have not resulted in any progress so far, but the management of the fund will remain committed to Lebanon, noting that the repercussions of the Corona pandemic on the global economy will continue until 2021, and estimated its damage during the current year and next at 12 trillion dollars.