Hariri resigned on Oct. 29 in the face of nationwide protests against Lebanon’s ruling elite. His decision toppled a coalition government including the powerful, Iran-backed Shia Muslim group Hezbollah, which opposed the decision. Since then, Lebanon’s main parties have been locked in talks and unable to agree a new government despite the worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civil war. “I am sticking by the rule ‘not me, rather someone else’ to form a government that addresses the aspirations of the young men and women,” Hariri, Lebanon’s leading Sunni Muslim politician, said in a statement. The prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim according to Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system.

Source: Egypt Independent November 26, 2019 13:30 UTC