BEIRUT, Oct 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Lebanon’s president acknowledged the government’s resignation following almost two weeks of unprecedented protests but asked it to stay on until a new cabinet is formed.
Michel Aoun “asked the government to continue to conduct affairs until a
new cabinet is formed”, his office said in a statement.
He said the measure followed the constitutional provision for cases in
which the government steps down.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his cabinet’s resignation on Tuesday,
the 13th day of a wave of protests triggered by a proposed tax on calls via
free phone applications.
Though that proposal was then scrapped, the demonstrations swelled into a
broad cross-sectarian call for an end to a political system viewed as corrupt
and inefficient.
Many of the country’s ruling elite hail from political parties or families
that have been in power since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.
It is unclear what a new government would look like and whether it would
include independent technocrats as demanded by the demonstrators. — NNN-AGENCIES
