Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri announced Thursday at the presidential palace his apology for forming a new government in Lebanon, nine months after he was named, in a step that would deepen the suffering of the country mired in its worst economic crisis.
Hariri told reporters after his 20-minute meeting with President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, that the latter requested "amendments" to the government formula that he proposed to him on Wednesday, accusing Aoun of insisting on his position.
"We will not be able to get along," he was quoted as saying.
"Therefore, I apologized for forming the government, and may God curse the country," Hariri added.
Earlier, the Lebanese presidency said that the Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri arrived at the presidential palace to meet with President Michel Aoun to complete consultations between them on the formula presented by Hariri yesterday.
In the first economic rebound of the new development, the exchange rate of the US dollar exceeded 20 thousand Lebanese pounds on the black market, after Hariri's apology for forming the government.
On the other hand, Aoun was briefed by the US ambassadors, Dorothy Shea, and the French, Anne Greu, in Beirut, about the results of their meetings in the Saudi capital last week.
The Lebanese presidency said that Aoun received from the two ambassadors a joint letter from the foreign ministers of the United States of America and France, in which they affirmed their countries' interest in the Lebanese situation and the need to form a new government to face the difficult circumstances in the country.