BEIRUT — Lebanon's parliament will convene on Friday to
discuss a letter written by the president saying Prime Minister-designate Saad
Al-Hariri had shown he was incapable of forming a government that could pull
the nation out of financial crisis.
اضافة اعلان
The letter, seen by Reuters, follows months of political
negotiations in a country where allegiances tend to follow sectarian lines. It
was addressed to parliament, which will convene on Friday to discuss it after
it is read out.
The existing government has been acting in a caretaker
capacity since resigning after a huge explosion in a portside warehouse tore
through Beirut in August. The blast further complicated the task of rescuing an
economy that has been in tailspin since late 2019.
"It has become evident that the prime
minister-designate is unable to form a government capable of salvation and
meaningful contact with foreign financial institutions, international funds,
and donor countries," President Aoun, a Maronite Christian, wrote in his letter.
Hariri, a Sunni Muslim who like his assassinated father has
headed several previous governments, was asked to form another one in October,
after a previous prime minister-designate failed to form a cabinet of
technocrats after several weeks of trying.
Western and other donors, led by former colonial power
France, have said Lebanon needs to form a viable cabinet of technocrats or
specialists before they will release funds to support the crippled country.
Talks with the International Monetary Fund have stumbled.
Gulf states, who in the past could be relied un to provide
financial support, are now reluctant to step because of frustrations over the
rising influence of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite group backed by their
regional rival Iran.
Tensions with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab nations were
stoked this week by disparaging comments about them by the foreign minister
during a television interview. The minister quit his caretaker post shortly
afterwards.
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