Immediately after announcing his resignation today, Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab went to the presidential palace, where he handed over the resignation to President Michel Aoun. This comes hours after the government decided to refer the file of the Beirut Port bombing to the country's highest judicial council looking into state security crimes.
According to the constitution, after announcing the resignation, the prime minister goes to Baabda Palace - the seat of the presidency - to present it to the president, then the latter issues a decree to dismiss her and then assign her to conduct business.
"We take a step back in order to fight the battle of change with the people," Diab said in a press conference. "Therefore, today I announce the resignation of this government, and God protects Lebanon."
In his speech, he affirmed that "the system of corruption is greater than the state, and the state is bound by the system and cannot confront it or get rid of it. One of the examples of corruption exploded in the port of Beirut."
He said, "Today we have reached this earthquake that struck the country, and our first concern is to deal with the repercussions and a speedy investigation determining the responsibilities. Today we appeal to people and hold accountable those responsible for the disaster that has been hiding for 7 years."
Diab pointed out that the scale of the tragedy is too great to describe, but some do not care about everything that happened except for the registration of political points and populist electoral speeches, considering that they “were supposed to be ashamed because their corruption produced this calamity, and God knows how many calamities there are under the cloak of their corruption.”
He stressed that what is required to change these people is because they are the real tragedy of the people, saying, "They tried to hold the government responsible for the collapse and the public debt. Indeed, those who were ashamed died, and this government made an effort to draw up a road map, and every minister in the government gave the most to him."
"We do not have personal interests, and all that matters to us is saving the country," Diab asserted. "We endured many insults and refused to lure us into debates because we wanted to work."
Before Diab announced his resignation, Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni submitted his resignation, becoming the fourth minister to resign after the huge Beirut port explosion, which left about 160 people dead and more than 6 thousand wounded, and caused massive destruction in the Lebanese capital.
My weight was preceded by: Minister of Justice Marie-Claude Negm, Minister of Environment Damianus Kattar, and Minister of Information Manal Abdel Samad. Against a background of overwhelming popular anger, it demands the downfall of all political structures in the country.
The Lebanese government consists of 20 ministers. Under the law, more than a third of its members must resign for a ruling to be dropped.
Demonstrations and resignations
Before announcing the resignation, Al-Jazeera correspondent Johnny Tanios, from the vicinity of the Beirut Parliament, said that a new round of demonstrations continues for the third day in a row near Parliament.
The reporter added that the security forces are adopting the same tactic, which is to let the demonstrators express their anger and throw stones at the police and burn rubber tires, in order to absorb their anger and announce the word waiting for Hassan Diab's resignation.
The prime minister had held successive and marathon meetings with ministers, which lasted for long hours to discourage them from resigning, and he asked them to slow down in making decisions, and Industry Minister Imad Hoballah (affiliated with Hezbollah) went out to announce that "there is no resignation and the government is steadfast and will continue to work."
On the other hand, the official Lebanese "National News Agency" reported that the government today referred the file of the Beirut Port explosion to the Judicial Council, which is the highest judicial authority in the country that examines cases affecting state security.
The agency stated that the referral was based on a proposal from the resigned Minister of Justice, Marie Claude Negm, who participated in the cabinet session held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Hassan Diab.
The Judicial Council - according to what is mentioned on the Lebanese Army website - is generally competent to deal with crimes against the security of the state, including crimes that undermine national unity or disturb the serenity between the elements of the nation or undermine the state’s financial standing, and crimes of weapons and ammunition and encroachment on the state. Civil rights and duties.