The United States expresses its disappointment at the resignation of the Lebanese Prime Minister-designate

Madrid, July 16. (European Press) –

On Thursday, US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, expressed his disappointment over the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri.

In a statement issued by the State Department, Blinken considered this news “another disappointing development for the Lebanese people.” He considered that “it is necessary to form a government that is committed and able to implement priority reforms.”

He declared that “the political class in Lebanon was lost in the past nine months,” noting that “the Lebanese economy is in a state of free fall and the current government does not provide basic services.”

He also referred to the parliamentary elections scheduled to be held in the country for 2022, a task that “the government should also start preparing” to “hold them on time and conduct them freely and fairly,” he said.

“Beirut’s leaders should put aside partisan differences and form a government that serves the Lebanese people, and this is what the Lebanese desperately need,” he said.

Hariri announced, on Thursday, his resignation to President Michel Aoun, about nine months after his appointment to the post, and his inability to form a government due to his tension with the president.

Minutes after Hariri’s resignation, the value of the Lebanese pound fell, reaching 21 thousand against one dollar, in a record decline for a country going through a deep economic crisis.

Hariri was appointed prime minister in October 2020, nearly a year after he resigned as prime minister alongside his government amid a nationwide wave of mobilization over the economic crisis.