After two weeks of anti-government protests (MEES, 1 February), Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri resigned this week claiming to have hit a “dead end” in efforts to appease the demonstrators. President Michel Aoun subsequently addressed the nation 31 October, calling for a “homogenous” caretaker government to be formed in order to tackle protesters’ grievances.
In reality, Mr Hariri’s resignation is hardly a victory for the protests. For one, the next candidate for Prime Minister is Mr Hariri himself. The position is constitutionally reserved for a Sunni Muslim, and Mr Hariri is by far the community’s strongest politician. And Mr Hariri, whilst no doubt a member of Lebanon’s entrenched and unpopular elite, is hardly the protesters’ central villain. (CONTINUED - 265 WORDS)
