Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Mohamed Safadi to Lead New Government in Lebanon


Fri 15 Nov 2019 | 10:01 AM
Ahmed Moamar

Lebanese media outlets revealed on Friday that the disputant political wings consent to nominate Mohamed Al Safadi, former Minister of Finance, to lead the  new government.

He would succeed Saad Hariri who faced fierce protests due the economic stagnation in the country over the last months.

The demonstrators took to the streets to express their indignation because of poor public services and rocketing rate of unemployment among youth at the age of work.

On the other hand, protesters are still demonstrating for the 30th day in a row.

Media outlets affiliated to the outgoing PM Hariri pointed out that Tayyar Al Mostqbal led by Hariri and Hezbollah, led by Sheikh Hassan Nasrullah, consented to nominate Safadi to form the new government.

“Mostqbal Web” directed by Hariri’s men  affirmed that he met last night with two officials of Hezbollah to discuss the coming step to deescalate the situation in Lebanon.

None the Lebanese officials unveiled any details of the coming government or the political blocs to join it.

However, people affiliated to Safadi said that the Lebanese should nominate him to start consultations with various politicians to form a new cabinet.

The Lebanese constitution obliges the parliament to debate new government formation when the PM goes out.

In the same line, both LBCI and MTV Satellite Channels broadcast that the major Lebanese factions have agreed to select Sadafi to lead the new government.

It is  expected that Lebanon’s President Michael Aun and the parliament to debate the nomination of the PM.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/10/22/lebanons-economic-crisis-didnt-happen-overnight-so-how-did-it-get-this-point/

Hariri  was forced resign on October 29 under pressures of the ongoing protests.

The protesters are still closing roads, which paralyzed the country.

For more than 4 weeks hundreds of thousands of Lebanese continued to protest after Hariri proposed a list of reforms on Monday. Going on since last Thursday, the protests throughout Lebanon are driven by the country’s deep social and economic crisis, which has roots in decisions made after the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1990.

Those economic and political choices have led to an increasingly untenable situation for which the country’s political class has few answers. The benefits of unsustainable government borrowing has fed a narrow class of elites without addressing growing poverty, while the tax system further entrenched inequality.

The government has failed to address such large-scale issues as the widespread corruption, recent forest fires and a looming currency crisis. Protesters are expressing that they’re no longer willing to tolerate the situation.